


i want you for my whole life

by starryjoonie



Category: GOT7
Genre: Elementary School, Explicit Language, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Implied Sexual Content, Light Angst, M/M, Parenthood, Single Parent Im Jaebum | JB, Single Parent Jackson Wang, Single Parent Mark Tuan, Single Parents, Teacher Choi Youngjae, Teacher Kim Yugyeom, Teacher Park Jinyoung (GOT7), Tooth-Rotting Fluff, the kids are named after stray kids but don't reflect their personalities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:15:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 35,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24609796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starryjoonie/pseuds/starryjoonie
Summary: The one thing that Jaebeom did not expect to happen in the middle of his work day was receiving an email from his son’s first grade teacher calling him in for a parent meeting because of Hyunjin’s “unconfirmed involvement in the theft of another student’s personal property."in which Jaebeom is a single dad who is constantly going to his son's elementary school for one reason or another (the reason slowly becomes Park Jinyoung).
Relationships: Im Jaebum | JB/Park Jinyoung, Kunpimook Bhuwakul | BamBam/Kim Yugyeom, Mark Tuan/Jackson Wang
Comments: 62
Kudos: 417





	1. one

**Author's Note:**

> this au uses the American school system for my own ease of writing.
> 
> -feel free to leave comments!

The one thing that Jaebeom did not expect to happen in the middle of his work day was receiving an email from his son’s first grade teacher calling him in for a parent meeting because of Hyunjin’s “unconfirmed involvement in the theft of another student’s personal property.”

Jaebeom has known Hyunjin for six years, aka the little boy’s entire life. He firmly subscribes to the belief that Hyunjin can never do anything wrong and that his son is an angel. This leads him to the mild infuriation he experiences at his office desk, reading the teacher’s email from his computer screen. 

_Involvement in theft my ass_ , he thinks irritatedly. Hyunjin has never so much as looked at a kid the wrong way, even in preschool when kids will often take toys out of each others’ hands without asking first and have to be taught not to (Jaebeom avoided that with angel Hyunjin who seemed to understand the concept of politeness from birth). 

That’s how he winds up at the little elementary school after work, checking in at the front office that’s been painted a very unique shade of pale green and has potted plants in every corner of the room and on every available surface. 

“Hello, I’m Im Jaebeom, I’m here for a conference with a teacher,” he says when the secretary looks up from his computer. The guy looks awfully young, like a college student, and he wonders when they stopped hiring old ladies for these positions. 

“Teacher’s name?”

Jaebeom glances at his phone to look at his notes app, which has the name and contact information of Hyunjin’s teacher that he has in case of emergency. “Um, Park Jinyoung?”

The man nods, typing a few things in before handing Jaebeom a visitor’s pass, which turns out to be a little sticky name tag, with a Sharpie. “Write your name on it and then you’re good to go.” He watches as Jaebeom quickly scrawls out his name. “Kid get in trouble or something?”

“Something like that,” he mutters as he sticks the name tag to his chest. “Does it happen a lot?”

“I’ve only been here since the start of the school year. You and the two guys before you are the first cases.” He just chuckles as he sits back down in the uncomfortable looking desk chair. “Good luck with Mr. Park.”

Jaebeom wonders, for a moment, what that could possibly mean, before he decides it’s nothing. The name plate on the desk catches his eye- it reads “Bambam.”

He walks to Hyunjin’s classroom afterward. The memory of how to find it is fresh in his mind after he dropped him off at it on the first day of school just two weeks ago. He hadn’t had the opportunity to speak with his teacher because he’d been late for work, but he can’t imagine the teacher being mean or anything, because Hyunjin had always spoken positively of him. Saying things like, “Mr. Park hung up my drawing on the whiteboard today” or “Mr. Park likes frogs, just like me!”

The door to the classroom is propped open and Jaebeom peers inside. It looks a lot like a courtroom, with some chairs arranged around a vacant teacher’s desk. Two other men sit in the chairs, having a conversation, while another guy sits in the corner, organizing books onto a bookshelf. Said guy looks up when he hears Jaebeom near, and stands up a little clumsily. “Are you Hyunjin’s parent or guardian?”

Jaebeom nods. “Yeah, I’m his father.”

“You can sit down. Mr. Park will be here in a couple moments with the kids.” He gives a short smile. “I’m Yugyeom, Mr. Park’s student teacher.”

That explains why he looks so young, far too young to be a qualified teacher (Jaebeom was about to be concerned). He gives Yugyeom a nod and takes the chair on the other side of the two guys already arrived.

The one named… Jackson? (his handwriting on the name tag is horrible and smudged) looks over at him sympathetically. “Your kid being accused of theft too?”

“Yeah,” Jaebeom confirms with a laugh. “My kid could never, though, so I don’t know why I’m here.”

Jackson lets out a really loud laughing noise. “My kids, I have two, they’re a little rambunctious sometimes but I don’t think they have it in their hearts to steal. I’ll fight for their innocence, just you watch.”

The one named Mark rolls his eyes. He also appears to be a bit miffed that he’s got to be here at this moment. But he says, “Kids aren’t always completely innocent, you know. They’re six, they don’t exactly have a sound moral code yet.” 

“The kids will probably say anything to get out of being in this classroom, damn. I feel like I’m in a courtroom. Poor Lix and Sungie are going to be coerced to pleading guilty,” Jackson laments dramatically. Jaebeom wonders how such a guy hasn’t been dulled down by the harshness of parenthood. He can’t finish the thought, though, because Jackson continues. “I know, I know, I have twins and they’re _both_ involved in this damn scheme. They’re attached at the hip though, so I’m not surprised they’d be accused together.”

Jaebeom can’t imagine raising two six-year-olds simultaneously. As much of an angel Hyunjin is, he has to admit his life would be made more chaotic by the presence of _two_ Hyunjins.

At that moment, the door squeaks back open, so Jaebeom can no longer imagine what his emotional state (and his finances) would be like if he had twins.

Glancing backward, he watches as a man who he assumes is Park Jinyoung walk in ushering a group of six year olds. Jaebeom’s gaze immediately catches on his son’s mop of black hair and the t-shirt he put on this morning with a frog on it. The kid’s face is red and tear-stained, which sparks instant guilt in Jaebeom’s chest as he pushes himself out of the chair to pull Hyunjin towards him. 

He kneels down, tucking Hyunjin’s hair out of his face. “What’s wrong, Jinnie?”

“S-Seungmin thinks I took his pens but I didn’t,” Hyunjin whines softly, his hands covering his eyes. 

Jaebeom’s heart is thoroughly melted. A vengeance against this Seungmin kid sparks within him as he picks Hyunjin up and places him on his lap to comfort him.

Mark’s son, which must be Jeongin, looks more worried than anything, whereas Jackson’s kids just bounce over to their father, seemingly excited by the drama.

Before sitting down, Jinyoung smoothes out the wrinkles in his dress pants and his sweater that fits him snugly. He glances at Yugyeom, saying, “You can go home; I’ll take it from here,” and then shuffles through his paperwork.

As Yugyeom leaves (quite eagerly), he looks up through this thick-rimmed glasses at Mark. “You must be Mark Tuan? Jeongin’s father?” he checks, only moving on after Mark gives him a nod. “Jackson Wang… and Im Jaebeom?”

Jaebeom nods nervously (he doesn’t know why he’s nervous considering Hyunjin is definitely innocent here).

“We can get started then,” Jinyoung says, neatly tucking his papers away. “I’ve chosen to not bring in Seungmin today considering his presence might cause more problems than we’re trying to solve.”

Jackson, predictably, has something to say about this. “I don’t know, I’d like to meet this Seungmin kid. He might be a little liar.”

Jinyoung sighs, his face ever so calm and professional. “That is certainly a possibility, although I am not fond of labeling children as ‘little liars.’ Seungmin may have not told the truth, but I don’t have reason to believe that he would do that.”

Hyunjin takes a break from sobbing to say, in his little kid voice that Jaebeom is rarely able to resist, “Mr. Park, I promise that I didn’t take Seungmin’s gel pens. It wasn’t me.”

“Do you know who might have done it, then?” Jinyoung asks him, in a voice geared so nicely toward a crying child- the perfect amount of comfort and calm. 

Hyunjin shakes his head. 

“Does Seungmin claim to have seen any of them do it?” Jackson prods. “I’m a criminal investigator, for your information, so I know how this process works.”

Jaebeom, Mark, and Jinyoung all give him vaguely doubtful looks, but the little freckled kid at Jackson’s feet nods as he puts a fruit snack in his mouth. “Dad told me about how he figured out a serial killer!”

“Yup,” Jackson confirms.

Jinyoung looks from Felix to Jackson. “I’ve got this handled, Mr. Wang,” he says crisply. 

For some reason, Hyunjin’s first grade teacher intimidates Jaebeom immensely. It’s probably the stark professionalism and the way he takes his job so seriously… hard to imagine it’s the same guy who Hyunjin claims likes frogs. 

“Seungmin claims that the boys have been jealous of his gel pens after borrowing them at recess one day,” Jinyoung says while looking at a paper. He must be reading from a written statement. The thought nearly makes Jaebeom laugh. “He says Jisung especially looked like he wanted to steal it.”

Jisung frowns. “That’s not fair! His pens were really cool. Didn’t mean I wanted to steal them.”

He acknowledges Jisung before adding, “He says that he had them before the start of music class and afterward, when he came back to homeroom, they were gone.” He looks at all the boys, from Hyunjin who is recovering from his crying fit, to the carefree Felix and Jisung to the pale-faced Jeongin. “You all went to music class that day, right?”

All four nod. 

Jinyoung takes in a quick breath. “I think it’d be worth mentioning that whoever stole his pens will face a warning. Two of those and you have to talk to the principal.” He purses his lips. “I don’t think that’s what you want.”

Judging by the way Hyunjin freezes in his lap, Jaebeom can tell that the principal is a feared figure in the elementary school community. 

There’s a silence among the kids. Jaebeom figures that even if one of the group had committed the crime, none of them were going to confess to it anyway.

“Hyunjin, if you took the pens, you know you can tell me, right?” Jaebeom told him quietly, gripping his little hand that’s still a little wet from wiping away his tears. “I won’t be angry.”

However, Hyunjin looks devastated that Jaebeom even suggested he might do a thing. “Daddy, I didn’t!” he protests, and then he starts crying again. 

Cringing guiltily, he hugs his son’s head toward his chest. _Oops._

Sure, one might assume Hyunjin’s crying might point towards him being the “criminal,” but Jaebeom knows that Hyunjin is a very emotionally in-tune six year old boy. He’s just a little overwhelmed.

“What Jaebeom said goes to you too, boys,” Jackson says, regarding both of his children. “In fact, if you confess now, I’ll let you have one more piece of candy.”

Mark and Jaebeom give him twin glares, and Jackson laughs it off.

Strangely, Jaebeom notices an increased agitation in the little ones. He guesses they’re probably getting antsy from sitting in a room for all of ten minutes. 

Then, he notices Jeongin whispering something into his father’s ear. Mark then looks back at him. “Why don’t you tell everyone what you just told me?” he says in an even tone.

Jeongin hesitantly looks at his teacher. “Mr. Park… it was a prank.”

Jinyoung straightens in his chair. “What was a prank?”

“Jisung convinced us to hide Seungmin’s gel pens because he was mean to us during art class,” Jeongin confesses in a tiny voice. “None of us stole them.”

Jaebeom is surprisingly amused by this turn of events in this elementary school drama. Meanwhile, Mark’s got a calm, fatherly face on and Jackson looks startled.

Calmly, Jinyoung asks, “Where are the pens hidden, Jeongin?”

“In Mr. Choi’s room. Inside the tuba.”

Jaebeom starts laughing, but he hushes when he realizes he maybe shouldn’t be laughing at the expense of a dramatic six year old. He’s comforted to know that Jackson is also in a similar state of humor.

But Jinyoung, the composed man that he is, continues to ask the important questions. “Did _you_ hide the pens, Jeongin?”

“Since I sit next to Seungmin at his table, Jisung told me to give them to Felix after math class. Then Felix took them to art class and then Hyunjin put them in the tuba,” Jeongin recites.

Jinyoung looks at the students, noting by their expressions that what Jeongin said is likely true. “You said that Seungmin said mean things to you? What did he say?”

Jisung answers immediately. “He said that Hyunjin’s hair was too long and looked weird and that his frog drawings looked like a cat that got stung by a bee!”

Kids are evil, Jaebeom decides, as he gives Hyunjin a comforting hug. How dare that Seungmin kid insult his son’s artistry. Jaebeom will probably have to rid him of insecurity, now, based on this. He ruffles his son’s fluffy black hair. The hair, too, was Hyunjin’s personal decision. He can’t imagine being a six year old, slandered by another six year old for how his hair looks.

Similarly, Jackson and Mark both look pissed off even though Hyunjin’s not their kid. He guesses it’s just the fatherly rage of when some kid insults another.

But what surprises Jaebeom most is the look of disappointment on Jinyoung’s face, having replaced his calm exterior.

“Hyunjin, I’m sorry that Seungmin said those things to you. Even though I don’t think that retaliation is an appropriate way of solving things like this, I agree that Seungmin’s actions were unwarranted. I’ll be talking to him tomorrow before class,” he says as he writes himself a note. “You four are excused from a warning.”

The children look at each other with relieved glee, freed from the potential wrath of the principal. Hyunjin looks in considerably better shape, back to the bright, outspoken little boy that he is when he isn’t crying. 

Neither Mark nor Jackson look mad at the kids’ lack of punishment. Jaebeom can tell it’s a mutual feeling that they personally believe that Seungmin deserved their children’s prank, but none of them say it in front of the teacher.

Thus, the mildly stressful parent-teacher meeting dissolves. Jinyoung bids the parents farewell, standing at the threshold of the classroom as they file out. When Jaebeom walks by, clutching Hyunjin’s hand, he offers a polite smile. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Im,” Jinyoung says. The cool, smooth tone of his voice has Jaebeom’s hands getting clammy. _I never thought I’d be intimidated by a first grade teacher._

“And you, Mr. Park,” he says, returning the greeting before joining Jackson, Mark, and their kids in the hallway as they collect the backpacks and coats.

As Jaebeom helps Hyunjin put on his coat, Jackson nudges Jaebeom. “You can’t tell me this is your first time meeting Jinyoung.”

“What do you mean?”

“I guess you didn’t go to the first day of school, huh… but isn’t he so _hot_?” Jackson enthuses, in a tone hushed enough that the chatting kids can’t overhear this scandalous gossip about their teacher. 

Jaebeom sputters. Hot? Jinyoung? Nah. 

“He’s got the face of a god, and I am entirely jealous that so much of the world’s beauty went to him. Like damn, share some with the rest of us,” Jackson mutters. 

“ _I think_ he’s a little scary.”

Jackson just laughs. “You’re scared of a teacher?” he says, basically echoing Jaebeom’s internal dialogue at the moment. In hindsight, maybe it is strange that a man surrounded by children intimidates the hell out of him, but Jaebeom cannot fight it. 

“I’m ready Daddy,” Hyunjin says, tugging on Jaebeom’s jacket sleeve. 

Thus, Jaebeom looks up at his newfound allies. “It was fun today.”

Mark and Jackson both crack smiles at that. Jackson agrees wholeheartedly. “Yes, it’s better when there’s another parent there to suffer with you,” he says, pulling out a long receipt from his coat pocket and tearing it in half. On both pieces, he writes his number, and hands it off to Mark and Jaebeom. “In case our kids cause more trouble together.”

Jaebeom can’t help but grin as he stows away the piece of paper into his pocket. In his whole six years of being a father, Mark and Jackson will be the closest he’s gotten to “dad friends” and he’s only just met them today. 

The Gel Pen incident is one of fate, Jaebeom decides, bringing him his fatherly emotional support in the form of two other dads.

He really, really hates his office job. It’s not anything mentally stimulating, at all. The only reason he’s got the job is because it pays enough to support him and Hyunjin and their cat, Nora, and their apartment. Most of the time, that’s what gets Jaebeom through the boring ass work day.

Jaebeom is dozing off in a meeting when his phone starts buzzing aggravatedly on the desk. He jerks up as he checks it, only to see that the phone number is probably that of Hyunjin’s school. His stomach falls to the floor as he fumbles to pick it up. “My son’s school is calling,” he explains to his coworkers, who give him nods of approval as he exits the room.

“Hello?” he answers.

“Hi, this is Crescent Elementary. Are you Im Jaebeom, Im Hyunjin’s father?” asks the voice that likely belongs to that secretary, Bambam.

“That’s me,” he answers dryly.

Bambam’s voice instantly becomes a little less formal. “Your kid threw up. He’s sick and he’s in the nurse’s office.”

He remembers that Hyunjin had told him he wasn’t feeling well that morning and he feels bad for sending him off to school. Poor thing. 

“Okay, I’ll come get him.”

Jaebeom quickly informs his manager about his sick child and gathers up his stuff to leave. Like he said, his job isn’t exactly riveting. And if his baby needs him, he’ll gladly leave.

Today, Bambam is watering the various plants when Jaebeom enters the school’s office. He gives Jaebeom a greeting before turning back to the computer. “Hey. Back again, huh?”

“Yeah.” Jaebeom chuckles. First his kid is an accused criminal and now he’s vomiting. “Long time no see.”

“I’ll go back and get him.”

Seconds later, Hyunjin appears with the lanky Bambam on his side. The poor kid’s face is pale and his back is slumped a bit, but he brightens upon seeing his father.

“Ready to go, Hyunjinnie?” Jaebeom asks, planning on getting him an ice cream or something on the way back as a treat. He knows Hyunjin hates missing school. 

He shakes his head. “I have to get my homework from Mr. Park.”

Jaebeom frowns. “You’re sick, you… actually, I know where the classroom is. I’ll go get your homework for you, okay? You can wait here with Bambam.”

Hyunjin agrees, and Bambam looks very nervous to be left in the care of a six year old. He offers Hyunjin the spray bottle used to water the plants and Jaebeom witnesses Hyunjin spraying himself in the face with it on accident as he walks into the hallway. He loves his kid.

The classroom door is open again. Jaebeom looks inside, hoping to god he won’t be interrupting class or something. He’s really not up for awkward encounters with a room full of children.

Luckily, when he steps inside, the kids are all busy at work, scribbling with crayons on pieces of paper and chatting among themselves. His gaze lands on Jinyoung, who is instructing a student on how to draw a bird by drawing on the whiteboard with green dry erase marker. 

“You have to make sure to give the bird wings or else it can’t fly,” Jinyoung informs them as he draws the wings onto the side profile of the bird. 

One of the students (which looks like Jisung) laughs that crazy little kid laugh. “Mr. Park, that’s a funny looking bird! Its wings are too small!”

Jinyoung looks slightly miffed by that comment, so he erases and redraws the bird to maybe-Jisung’s standards. “That better?” (Jaebeom isn’t close enough to interrupt and point out that Jinyoung’s bird doesn’t even have legs.)

He’s in the middle of laughing when he finally spots Jaebeom standing awkwardly near the door. He jumps up, excusing himself as he half-walks, half-jogs over to Jaebeom. A few of the kids look their way but none of them seem to care much.

“I’m sorry for interrupting your class,” Jaebeom apologizes. “You… seemed to be having fun with the bird.”

What appears to be, shockingly enough, embarrassment, spreads its way onto Jinyoung’s face as he laughs, little whiskers appearing at the corners of his eyes. “Oh, it’s okay, it’s their art time right now. Not a formal instruction.” 

Jaebeom, unfortunately, does not realize he’s kind of staring until Jinyoung tilts his head and asks, “Is there something you need, Mr. Im?”

_Hyunjin is sick, get yourself together._ “Oh, right, Hyunjin needs his homework for tonight. Since he’s coming home early.”

Jinyoung instantly goes to grab a stack of pre-prepared papers, stuck together with a blue paperclip. He hands it over to Jaebeom while giving him a sympathetic look. “I hope he feels better. He’s normally a really bright kid, you know? I could tell he wasn’t doing his best today.”

“Yeah, he looked bad when I picked him up,” Jaebeom laments. “Thank you, though.”

He takes another paper off his desk. “Oh, and I have another question. I had to send Hyunjin’s emergency contact information to the office since our secretary is new here and hasn’t input all of that into the system yet. I just wanted to check that the information is accurate. According to the paperwork, you are the only emergency contact listed. Are you Hyunjin’s only guardian?”

He hadn’t expected that question to come up today. But he figured it’d be something the teachers ask about eventually. “I’m his only legal guardian,” Jaebeom confirms. “His mother isn’t in the picture anymore so I should be the only one on all of his documents.”

Jinyoung nods thoughtfully for a few seconds before setting the paper aside again. “You’re all set then. Take good care of Hyunjin, okay?”

“Of course,” Jaebeom says earnestly. 

On his way out, Jinyoung gives him another bright smile and a small wave, and he wonders if this is the same person that methodically sat before four first graders and got them to confess to a gel pen hiding prank. Surely, it can’t be. 

Jaebeom rescues Hyunjin from Bambam, even though it looked like the two were having fun (Bambam was teaching him how to use the hole punch). Then they’re on their way to get ice cream.

“How was your day, buddy?” Jaebeom asks, glancing at the rear-view mirror at the kid in the booster seat.

“Good. Jeongin gave me and Felix and Jisung a cookie at lunch. When I threw up Mr. Park got me a cup of water and drew frogs with me in the nurse’s office while Mr. Kim the helper teacher taught math class. Felix said he mixed up his multiplication tables,” Hyunjin details in his very succinct description of the school day. 

“That sounds like a great day.” Jaebeom admires his kid’s uncanny positivity. If he threw up, he’d take every opportunity to complain about it, but for Hyunjin, there’s always something to be happy about.

As he hands Hyunjin his ice cream cone, he thinks about how dedicated his teacher must be to leave class to comfort a sick student. Jinyoung’s definitely one of the better teachers that Jaebeom has seen as a parent. 

Not only is he _organized_ and _professional_ and _intimidating_ , but he’s damn good at his job. What a combo.


	2. two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaebeom has a "dad hangout" with Jackson and Mark and later attends his son's fall concert at school.

The next time Jaebeom has the day off, he spends it in the company of his newfound dad friends. Instead of calling it a “dad hangout,” which is a fairly accurate description, they refer to it as a playdate for the kids. Which is also true, but really, they just wanted to be able to talk to each other.

Turns out, neither of them had dad friends either.

They’re gathered at Jackson’s little house. The kids play together in the living room with a fake plastic oven and various different unrealistic plastic food items. Jaebeom can already hear his son pretending to get food poisoning.

The fathers sit at the table in the kitchen, where they still have a view of the kids but they can also have a conversation without distracting them. 

“Is Hyunjin your only kid?” Jackson asks curiously. “You never mentioned if you had others.”

“Hyunjin’s my only one,” he confirms. 

“Would you have any others?”

Jaebeom shakes his head. “I had Hyunjin when I was in college, with my girlfriend at the time. She broke up with me when Hyunjin was a few months old and then I never saw her again. Conveniently enough, I realized I was gay shortly after so its not all that bad.” He chuckles. “So yeah, I’m a single dad now. I’m not going to be having more.”

The look on Mark’s face is almost… relief. He’s smiling, and Jaebeom’s about to ask him if he’s okay when he says, “Single dad club.”

So maybe that’s why they clicked so well. 

“Me too,” Jackson says brightly. “Damn.”

It feels nice, for once, for Jaebeom to talk with people who have at least a remote idea of what his situation is like. _Dad friends are important,_ he decides. 

So they share their stories, since Jaebeom shared his.

Mark goes first. “It was actually quite recently. I adopted Jeongin when he was three with my boyfriend at the time. We were going to get married and we wanted to have the adoption process done by then, since adoption takes a while to do and we didn’t want to wait. Shortly after we got Jeongin, my boyfriend died in a car accident. So I’m Jeongin’s sole caregiver now.”

“I’m sorry, Mark,” Jaebeom expresses, and Jackson nods soberly as well.

Jackson’s story is a bit different. “It started when my sister and her husband got pregnant with twins.” At that, Jaebeom sharply inhales, and he can predict how this story is going to go. “All my siblings and I were so excited for them since they were the first out of us all to have kids. I remember visiting the twins in the hospital when they were born and they were so tiny and I was lucky to have a lot of early memories with them. But things went downhill when both of them passed away when Felix and Jisung were a year old. Our parents were too old to raise children, and none of us wanted them to go to the foster system. I volunteered to be their caregiver. I was really attached to them. To the point where I ended up adopting them. I’m legally their father, and they call me Dad. Nothing makes me happier.”

Their stories are all very heavy, but they all seem to have recovered from these outcomes, because switching to a happier conversation topic is very easy.

“I’ve been thinking of getting the boys on the soccer team,” Jackson says thoughtfully as he organizes from fruit onto four paper plates in the kitchen. “They have so much pent up energy. I’ll get home from work and they’re chasing each other around the house. Sometimes I think I adopted dogs instead of children.”

This is exemplified when Jisung comes crashing into the kitchen, standing up on a little stool to peer up at his dad. “Can we go outside with Jeongin and Hyunjin? I want to show them our garden!”

“I have some snacks for you guys and then you can go outside,” Jackson promises. He hands Jisung one of the plates of fruit and Jaebeom’s anxiety skyrockets as the kid runs off again with the plate bouncing unevenly in his hand.

After Jackson’s done serving the kids their fruit, he sits back down with Jaebeom and Mark. “Are you two new to the school district?” he asks. 

Mark shakes his head but Jaebeom nods. “Hyunjin and I moved into our apartment here over the summer for ease of access to my job. I’m glad Hyunjin was able to make friends so quickly.”

“You have no idea, Felix and Jisung are so forward about making friends. They have no shame,” Jackson jokes lovingly. “They befriend the quieter ones so easily.”

“That’s how they befriended Jeongin,” Mark finishes. 

Jaebeom glances over his shoulder at how happy Hyunjin is as he eats his strawberries, talking about something very exciting with his little school friends. _It’s absolutely precious._

Unfortunately, Jaebeom has to call off the playdate a bit early because he needs to go grocery shopping. He feels guilty leading Hyunjin away from a fun time with his friends, but he reminds himself the kid will see them tomorrow in school, anyway. 

The third time that Jaebeom enters Crescent Elementary is the night of the fall play. Hyunjin had been very enthusiastic about this performance for the past two weeks. It’s all he would talk about at the dinner table, about how Mr. Choi praised his recorder skills and Mr. Choi says he is destined for musical greatness.

Jaebeom would have to agree, judging by the impromptu singing that his son always does as he’s brushing his hair and drawing with his crayons and petting Nora. 

“Maybe you can meet Mr. Choi, too! You can be friends with all of my teachers,” Hyunjin says excitedly, recalling the gel pen incident as reason for Jaebeom to befriend Jinyoung, apparently. 

Jaebeom shoves a little plaid sweater over Hyunjin’s head that matches the fall theme of the concert (An email was sent out _specifically asking_ for the children to be dressed in “fall colors.”). “Maybe,” Jaebeom offers. He stands up and takes his camera off the table and places it in its carrying bag. He can’t wait to play this back for Hyunjin ten years from now. 

At the school, Jaebeom discovers that all the students have to sign in at the front desk. Bambam greets him welcomingly, this time wearing all black attire. The plants have tiny pumpkins placed in their pots and a few even have spiders. Jaebeom is absolutely sure that is a safety concern. A child will definitely spot one and get startled and knock it over. He knows, he has one. 

He makes sure Hyunjin doesn’t see any of the spiders as he writes his name onto a piece of paper.

“Were you in charge of decorating?” Jaebeom asks Bambam.

“Yes, apparently the secretary is very necessary to be present at the fall concert. I don’t even have any kids, I don’t know why I have to be here.”

Jaebeom laughs. “You’re here to see musicians in the making, that’s why.” He gives Hyunjin a pat on the head and escorts him away.

Hyunjin goes off with his class to prepare while Jaebeom goes to the gymnasium to find Mark and Jackson, who claim to have secured the best seats in the place. Sure enough, he finds them in the very front row.

“Hey Jaebeom, you made it,” Mark greets.

“Of course, I can’t miss Hyunjin’s musical debut.” Jaebeom grins, leaning back in his seat proudly. “I’ve been told he’s very talented with the recorder.”

“ _I’ve_ been told that _my_ child plays the recorder very loud in other children’s ears,” Jackson says, causing them all to laugh. “I’ve actually gotten emails from the music teacher about it. So proud of that kid.”

The gymnasium fills with other parents. Mostly, it’s married couples and the grandparents, and for a second, Jaebeom feels self-conscious because Hyunjin only has him. He releases the thought, quickly, because it’s pointless to think about. He knows that.

He eats some fruit snacks that he’d brought because he hadn’t had the chance to eat dinner yet as he watches Bambam set up the decorations around the bleachers, placing fabric ghosts and pumpkins and cobwebs. Jackson calls out to him when he notices that said decorations are not evenly placed. “A little to the left!” (Bambam obliges reluctantly, looking like there are places he’d much rather be at the moment).

A man appears in the room, dressed up in very vivid red, orange, and yellow colors, within thin-rimmed glasses and a bright smile. “Bambam, help me with bringing in the xylophone?” he asks. This must be the music teacher, Choi Youngjae. 

The kid holds back a sigh and nods, disappearing behind a set of doors. Youngjae spots Jackson in the front row and a smile comes to his face as he approaches him. “Hi, Mr. Wang. How is Felix doing?”

“Are you asking if he’s learned his manners with the recorder? Hopefully,” Jackson jokes. “He’s good at it, he just enjoys messing with people too much.”

Youngjae nods knowingly. “Yes, Felix is a fun kid and a pleasure to have in class. I wanted to compliment you on that. Jisung, too.”

Jackson’s face is a little blushy. “They’re just born great kids, I didn’t teach them any of that.”

Obviously, children are not born kind and polite, and Youngjae knows that, but he doesn’t argue with Jackson. “I think Mr. Park may have an impact on his student’s behavior at school, as well. He’s a really great teacher, honestly. The kids love and respect him, plus he’s like, _the_ teacher of the school. No one would dare speak against him. Some might even say he has more influence here than the principal.”

So that’s why Jinyoung has such an intimidating aura. He’s, for lack of better words, the ruler of the school.

“Is he single?” Jackson asks, and both Jaebeom and Mark elbow him simultaneously.

Youngjae laughs a very cheery, light laugh. “He might kill me for telling you, but yes, he is.” He pauses, noticing that Bambam has returned hauling in the xylophone. “I’ve got to finish setting things up.”

Meanwhile, Jackson whistles. “How is such a hot man single? I don’t get it.”

“Look who’s talking,” Mark mutters, so quiet Jaebeom hardly catches it. Jackson and Jaebeom both look at him, a little wide-eyed, and an instant pink blush falls over Jackson’s face. They don’t have a chance to address that little statement, because Jaebeom receives a tap on the shoulder and it startles him so badly the fruit snack placed against his lips falls out of his mouth and onto the gymnasium floor.

Park Jinyoung is kneeling beside him, with that recognizably serious look on his face. “Mr. Im, I hate to interrupt, but was Hyunjin with you when you signed in at the front desk?” he asks, keeping his voice low and steady. So steady it makes Jaebeom nervous.

“Yes, why?” Jaebeom doesn’t even really want to know the ‘why.’

He sighs. “We can’t find him. He didn’t come to the designated classroom.”

Jaebeom has the overwhelming urge to scream. “Shit, really?” he says, a little too loud and now he’s got judgemental mothers looking at him.

“Yes. I figured you might want to help find him. You know him better than I do.”

He nods quickly, pushing himself out of the chair onto unsteady legs. With Jinyoung leading the way, they exit the crowded gymnasium. 

“I already looked through all the hallways… I don’t think he’s ever done this in class, but does he hide when he’s nervous?” Jinyoung asks, and he’s already walking off.

Jaebeom jogs to keep up. “No. He wasn’t even nervous before I brought him here. He was really excited.” His heart’s pounding a little, he’s not going to lie.

“Maybe he’s in the restroom?” Jinyoung opens the door to the restroom and calls out, “Hyunjin?” to no response.

Then, Jinyoung leads him back to his own classroom, thinking that maybe Hyunjin went to get one of his belongings. The room’s dark and the door’s still locked, so he’s not in the there.

So they’re practically running around the school, checking all the bathrooms, because the fall concert starts in five minutes and a child is missing. _His_ child. 

Jinyoung makes a phone call to his student teacher as he searches. “Yugyeom, I need you to go to the front office and see if Im Hyunjin’s there. I’m with his father right now. We can’t find him, and we’ve checked in all the bathrooms and nearly all the classrooms… Thank you.” He hangs up, shoving his phone into his back pocket. 

As Jinyoung tries opening the teacher lounge, Jaebeom’s massaging his temples. “I lost my child. I had one job and I lost him. He’s been kidnapped.”

Jinyoung gives Jaebeom a comforting shoulder squeeze. “No one kidnapped him. We’ll find him,” he says, somehow knowing the perfect words to soothe a worried dad. “He probably wandered off. Come on, there’s one more hallway to look through.”

Jaebeom takes a steadying breath as he goes to follow Jinyoung. He’ll hate himself forever if he somehow did, in fact, lose Hyunjin. _In an elementary school,_ of all places.

He quite embarrassingly runs into Jinyoung who had stopped in his tracks in the hallway. “Sorry, I-” he begins, but follows Jinyoung’s gaze over to the glass exit door. Standing there, fogging up the glass with his breath, is Hyunjin.

“Oh my god.” Jaebeom starts laughing out of relief as Jinyoung runs over to open the door for him. Jaebeom wraps the little kid up into a tight hug, glad that he dressed in warm clothes today.

“Why were you out there, Hyunjin?” Jinyoung asks, in a similar state of relief as Jaebeom, his shoulders drooping with a hand on his hip as he watches father and son reunite. 

His cheeks are pink from the cold. Must’ve been out there for a few minutes. “I went outside the door because I thought I saw a kitty walking around and that he might need help. But I couldn’t find the kitty and when I tried to go back inside the doors wouldn’t let me in.”

Bless Hyunjin’s soft spot for animals, particularly cats. He probably got that trait from Jaebeom. 

“I’m sorry kiddo. Some doors you can only leave from,” Jaebeom tells him, wondering if this is something he should’ve informed his kid of previously. For a few seconds, he feels like a failed parent because of it. 

Jinyoung glances at the clock on the wall. “The concert’s in one minute. Are you excited?” he asks Hyunjin with a bright smile as he leads him away to the music room. He glances up at Jaebeom, both amused and knowing. “I’ll make sure I won’t lose him.”

Dazed, he manages to reply, “I’ll hold you to that,” before he and his son disappear around the corner.

When Jaebeom returns to his seat in the audience with a long, tired sigh, both Jackson and Mark are staring expectantly at him.

“So did you find your kid or are you going to be filing a missing person report?” Mark jokes.

“I was legitimately considered Hyunjin was kidnapped,” Jaebeom whines. “We found him outside one of those doors that only open one way. Thought he saw a cat.”

Jackson snorts. “Sounds like something my kids would do. Children are truly the light of our lives, aren’t they?”

At that moment, a voice booms out through a microphone. “Hello everyone!” Youngjae calls out. “I’d like to welcome all the parents and family members to the first grade fall concert. Today we’ll have various performances that showcase the students’ vocal and instrumental talents. On that note, I’d like to welcome the first grade classes of Mr. Yoo, Mr. Lee, and Mr. Park.”

He steps aside so that the parents can watch their kids file onto the risers. Jaebeom’s heart fills with warmth (and relief) when he spots Hyunjin hopping up onto the tallest row with his little smile and sparkling eyes. His hair and clothes are still neat despite the altercation and he looks like the cutest first grader. 

Throughout the concert, Jaebeom probably takes way too many photos than are necessary, but he believes that too much is better than too little in this case. He even catches the nasty look the kid in front of Hyunjin gave him when Hyunjin accidentally whacked him on the head with his blue plastic recorder. _That’s a keeper,_ he thinks.

He doesn’t feel so bad about his excessive photography when he notices how much Jackson yells out to his kids, like your stereotypical embarrassing dad. “Recorder KINGS,” he shouts. Jaebeom expects him to be the subject of judgement from the other moms, but all he gets are swooning looks. 

At the end of the concert, the homeroom teachers give their little speeches. Jinyoung goes last, receiving some cheers from his students before he speaks. “Let’s all thank Choi Youngjae for putting on this lovely concert and letting the kids shine.” Clapping follows. “I hope that everyone has been able to see the growth in their children’s capabilities since the beginning of the school year, and that this was an enjoyable experience for you and for them, even with the minor obstacles we had today.” While more clapping fills Jaebeom’s ears, he watches as Jinyoung seems to spot him in the crowd and give him that tiny, knowing smile, his eyes sparkling underneath the harsh gymnasium lights. His throat feels dry as Jinyoung looks at him and he can do nothing but give him an uncontrolled smile back. Jinyoung then looks away and says to the audience, “Thank you.”

After the students are dismissed, Jaebeom collects Hyunjin and lets him say goodbye to Felix, Jisung, and Jeongin. Just before they’re about to leave, he breaks his hand out of Jaebeom’s and runs off in the opposite direction. Already once traumatized from losing his child, Jaebeom glances backward to see Jinyoung kneeling down and giving Hyunjin a hug.

“You did so well, Hyunjin! Your recorder playing was really great. Did you practice a lot?” 

“Yes!” Hyunjin responds enthusiastically. “Daddy helped me, too! He let me sit on the table and he and Nora our cat sat on the ground and watched me play. It was really late and Daddy even let me stay up so I could practice.”

Jinyoung tilts his head, smiling. “Is that so? Maybe you should thank him. He’s right behind you.”

At that, Hyunjin spins around brightly and runs over to give Jaebeom’s leg a tight hug. “Thank you Daddy for helping me practice!”

“Of course, Jinnie.” He ruffles Hyunjin’s hair affectionately before looking back to Jinyoung, who is standing now. “Mr. Park… thanks for helping me find him, by the way. I really should’ve walked him to the classroom.”

Jinyoung waves his hand. “It’s not a problem at all. Finding lost children is in my job description. And you can just call me Jinyoung.”

“Okay,” Jaebeom agrees, unable to help his smile. “Then call me Jaebeom.”

“I’ll see you later, then, Jaebeom. Hyunjin, hold your dad’s hand tightly, okay?” Jinyoung jokes, before waving to them and moving to speak to the next kid and her parents.

He’s on a first-name basis with his child’s teacher and he doesn’t even know what to make of it. His brain is full of air, as proven when Hyunjin has to stop him from walking into a pole. 

“Be careful Daddy,” he tells him, repeating the phrase that Jaebeom has said to Hyunjin many times before. 

He shakes his head as if to focus, knowing that he still has to drive Hyunjin home and get him to bed before he’s up too late. 

For whatever reason, Jaebeom has a feeling that he’ll be at this school often this year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!! :)


	3. three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaebeom is called back to school to address Hyunjin's falling grades.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this is a shorter chapter! The next one will have more content I promise :)
> 
> Leave a comment and let me know what you think!!

Bambam looks up at Jaebeom in mild surprise. “You’re back?”

Tiredly, Jaebeom nods as he leans against the desk and starts filling out his own visitor pass (he’s used to this process by now).

“I’m assuming you’re here to see Jinyoung.” He types something in quickly, then, “You’re good to go.”

“Thanks,” he mutters as he sticks the name tag to his chest and trudges out. 

When he arrives at the classroom, Jinyoung’s rearranged some papers pinned to a corkboard. He hears Jaebeom come in and turns around, inviting him to sit down at a chair already pulled up near his desk. “Good evening, Jaebeom. I’m sorry for calling you here after work. You must be tired.”

“It’s fine, really,” he mumbles as he sits down. He tries to appear less exhausted than he is, so as to not worry Jinyoung.

Jinyoung sits down in his swivelling desk chair, pulling some papers out of his drawers. “Hyunjin’s with Yugyeom and a few other kids that have to stay late after school. I thought it would be best if I just talked with you about this, as his parent,” he says. He opens a notebook and scans the page with a pen. “Hyunjin hasn’t been turning in his homework lately and his scores on quizzes have decreased significantly.”

Jaebeom blinks, surprised. “Is he failing?”

“No, but I’d like to address the issue before he does,” Jinyoung says gently. “Hyunjin’s a great kid. For the first two months he’s always been very studious and he never failed to turn something in. If he got something wrong on a quiz, he’d always approach me in between classes to ask me questions.” Jaebeom appreciates how helpful Jinyoung is to his students. All his teachers in school had never willingly worked with kids outside of class. “So now that he isn’t performing as well, I’m concerned and I’d like to help him if I can.”

“I think I know what the problem might be,” Jaebeom confesses, sighing. “He hasn’t been sleeping well lately. I’ve always made sure to hold him to a decent sleeping schedule when I can help it. But sometimes he just can’t fall asleep, or he wakes up in the middle of the night and tosses and turns, that kind of thing. I’ve noticed he’s become more tired during the day.”

“That could definitely affect his focus during the day,” he agrees.

Jaebeom frowns. “God, he told me he was doing all his homework though… I wish he told me he was having trouble. I feel bad.”

“It’s not your fault, Jaebeom, I promise,” Jinyoung comforts as he tucks some papers away. “Do you have any other children?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t.”

“Has Hyunjin been feeling stressed about school lately?”

“Not that he’s told me. He always seems happy to come each day,” Jaebeom says honestly, recalling how, despite his tiredness, Hyunjin would eagerly go to brush his hair and teeth and put on his favorite frog shirt. He searches his brain for a solution for a few moments, before he remembers. “Oh, I just remembered, Hyunjin told me about a few bad dreams he’s had. Maybe he’s having nightmares and they’re keeping him awake.”

Jinyoung nods. “That happens to a lot of kids his age. Has he had problems with that before?”

“No.”

“I see,” he says. “You could try reading to him before bed. It’ll relax him and give his mind something to think about before he sleeps. Or you could play soft music for him.” He pauses, glancing at Jaebeom. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to impose. I know that you as Hyunjin’s father have your own ways of parenting him and I know unwarranted advice is annoying. I’ve just had a lot of child care classes.”

Jaebeom waves his hands around. “No, Jinyoung, it’s absolutely fine. You saved me a Google search about how to make my kid fall asleep, so thank you,” he replies with a smile. As a single dad without much available help from family members, Google and parenting books have been his savior. Advice from a professional like Jinyoung is welcome, especially since he hadn’t a clue what to do otherwise.

Jinyoung returns the smile and is about to respond when his school phone starts ringing. “Sorry,” he says, before answering the phone. “This is Park Jinyoung, room 114… Bambam, I swear to god, I am meeting with a parent right now, I can’t help you…” He rubs his temple with his free hand out of frustration. “I don’t care if you think my student teacher is hot, I’m busy… Fine. His name is Yugyeom but that’s all you’re getting out of me. Goodbye.” He hangs up and turns back to Jaebeom, letting out a shaky laugh. “That was Bambam, our secretary, I’m sure you’ve met him. Apparently he’s got a crush on Yugyeom after seeing him at the fall concert. I swear working at this school is like a sitcom sometimes… Anyway, is there anything else you need?”

“I think I know how to help him now.” Jaebeom smiles warmly. “Thank you, honestly. None of Hyunjin’s other teachers have been so openly helpful. It really makes things easier.”

“Of course.” Jinyoung’s smile is bright now as he looks at Jaebeom for a few moments. His words are stolen from his mouth when loud footsteps sound out from the door.

Sure enough, it’s Jackson, with a backpack thrown over his shoulder as he saunters in. “Hyung! What are you doing here?” he asks in surprise as he pulls up a chair.

“Addressing Hyunjin. And you?”

Jinyoung rolls his eyes. “Yes, Mr. Wang, why don’t you tell him why you’re here?”

His mood is slightly dampened by Jinyoung’s teacher-like statement. “As it happens, Felix had gotten an in-school suspension for being impolite towards the principal when he got scolded for not wearing his shoes in class.”

“Yes, and what did he call him?”

Jackson hesitates, and then, dipping his head, mumbling, “An absolute clown.”

Jaebeom bursts out into laughter as he imagines the tiny kid calling his principal a clown, and part of him wishes Hyunjin wasn’t such an angel so he could tell funny stories like this.

“Mr. Wang was called here so that I can scold him for allowing this kind of behavior in his child,” Jinyoung continues, chuckling. His voice quiets. “Don’t let anyone else know this, but honestly, the principal deserves it. No one here likes him.”

Jackson gasps, his mouth forming a surprised “o” at this discovery. “Oh my god, elementary school drama.”

“Unfortunately, he’s our boss, so we have to deal with him.”

“Maybe you could usurp him and take his position,” Jackson suggests eagerly. “Mr. Choi told me that everyone treats you like the principal, anyway.”

Jinyoung raises an eyebrow, still smiling. “Mm, is that so? … I can’t just take his job though. He’d have to resign first or get fired by his boss and I doubt that’s going to happen. Anyway, I’m going to tell the principal that I gave you a very stern talking-to about the use of harmful language around your child, okay?”

“Sounds good.”

“But I would still avoid doing that so he isn’t calling all his friends clowns,” Jinyoung says in a more serious tone. “Little language things like that can develop into using swear words at an earlier age and in inappropriate settings.”

Jackson rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m not going around yelling ‘fuck’ around the kids.”

“I hope not.” 

Yugyeom walks in then, accompanied by Hyunjin, Jisung, and Felix. “This is the last of them. The others have been picked up,” he announces.

“Why are you covered in chalk?” Jinyoung asks, giggling as he points out the pink, purple and blue mess on the front of Yugyeom’s t-shirt. It’s definitely fashionable, Jaebeom thinks.

“We were playing pictionary,” Yugyeom informs him. “Felix was the winner.”

Jackson praises his kid and Jinyoung laughs, while Hyunjin comes over to inform Jaebeom that he got 2nd place (Jaebeom makes sure that Hyunjin knows his dad will love him no matter how bad or good he is at something. It was one of the most important things he wanted to teach his child).

Back at home, Jaebeom’s preparing food in the kitchen when Nora runs inside, being chased by Hyunjin. He sticks out his arm to catch Hyunjin as he runs past and wrap him in a hug. “Hey kid. How was your day at school?”

Hyunjin takes a good five seconds to think about it. “Hm. It was a good day. Today Mr. Park told us about how to spell some big words. I got to use paint in art class! We did fingerpainting! Someone got paint on the carpet so Bambam had to come and clean it because the janitor wasn’t here today.”

“Sounds fun,” Jaebeom says with a laugh, imaging a reluctant Bambam cleaning out a paint stain. Then, he returns to the topic he meant to discuss. “Mr. Park told me you were having trouble focusing in class and I thought it might be because you aren’t getting enough sleep. Are you having bad dreams?”

Hyunjin looks up at Jaebeom with glossy eyes and nods. 

“I’m sorry. Do you think that we could read before bedtime? Maybe that would help?” Jaebeom proposes.

His face brightens. “Yes!” He breaks away and runs over to his backpack that is sitting in the middle of the hallway for some reason. He unzips it and pulls out a hardcover book and presents it to Jaebeom. “Mr. Park gave this to me to borrow today. He said it’s about a frog that goes on adventures.”

A smile spreads across his face as he thumbs through the pages, looking at the messy yet cute illustrations with pastel coloring. “We can read this, then. Go put it next to your bed so we don’t get ramen on the pages.”

Hyunjin obeys and Jaebeom’s left smiling to himself as he stirs the pot of ramen. Jinyoung’s a blessing. He’s everything a kid needs in a teacher. It’s like he knows Hyunjin so well already.

That night, Jaebeom sits with Hyunjin on his bed (the blankets, predictably, have a frog-print on them) and reads to him the story. Hyunjin occasionally interrupts to discuss the real-life probability of such events happening and Jaebeom humors him. As he reads, he figures images like this, of a fictional frog having tea with a dog, are good enough to quell the nightmares.

After Jaebeom notices Hyunjin is getting tired, he stops reading and sets the book aside. He’s about to pull the blanket over Hyunjin when he sits up and asks, “Daddy?”

“Yes?” He looks at Hyunjin, who appears to have a lot of thoughts growing through his head.

“You said that you’re going to marry a boy because you don’t want to marry a girl. So since I can’t have a mommy does that mean I will get another daddy?”

Jaebeom’s taken off-guard by the suddenness of the question. “Do you want another daddy?” he asks.

He deliberates for a second. “I think having two daddies is cool but I love Daddy the most. I am happy with just Daddy.”

His heart melts at how Hyunjin hadn’t wanted to offend him by saying he wants another parent. He thinks that if he implied that having a set of two parents, like most kids, is appealing, that he’d hurt his only father by wanting more.

“Oh, Hyunjin, it’s okay if you want another parent,” he says earnestly, tucking some of Hyunjin’s hair out of his face. “Maybe someday, if Daddy meets someone he likes… but you’ll always be my first priority, you know that?”

Hyunjin nods happily. He’s always been in-tune with his father’s emotions, and Jaebeom feels like that’s made the single parent experience easier sometimes. Hyunjin always seems to understand that his father loves him and that will never change.

Jaebeom gives him a forehead kiss. “Goodnight kiddo.”

“Goodnight Daddy.”

The next time Jaebeom’s at the elementary school, it’s simply because Hyunjin made a giant sculpture in art class and he needs his father’s help to carry it back to the car. It’s entertaining to see the shocked face that Bambam makes when he walks in for the third? Maybe fourth time this school year. However, he simply told him that his kid is an artist and that is why he is here. 

Hyunjin informs him that the sculptures are not in the art room, but in his homeroom. Jaebeom wonders if Jinyoung will be pleased or exasperated to see his face again (he’s kind of hoping to see that smile that Jinyoung always has).

Upon arrival to Hyunjin’s classroom, he is surprised to find that Jinyoung is holding a meeting with Mark. He wonders what Jeongin possibly could have gotten up to, when Jinyoung glances over at him and becomes startled for a second, before letting out an embarrassed laugh. “Hi, Jaebeom. The sculptures are over on the table over there,” he says, pointing to the corner of the room where dozens of clay… structures are lined up. 

As Hyunjin finds his piece of art, Jaebeom listens to the conversation that Jinyoung and Mark are having (Mark doesn’t seem to care who listens).

“It’s going to be very difficult to conduct class, Mr. Tuan, if your son continues pretending to not speak Korean,” Jinyoung tells him quite bluntly.

Mark looks more amused than anything. He’s always come off as the “chill dad” type. “I don’t know why he’s doing that, he speaks just fine at home with me.”

“Maybe you could talk to him and tell him that if he wants to have a decent learning experience, he should be able to communicate with his teacher. Otherwise I can’t help him.”

“Is he not speaking at all?”

“He speaks English with Mr. Wang’s twins just fine. Problem is I don’t know what they’re saying,” Jinyoung informs him. Perhaps that is his one weakness, that he’s not fluent in other languages. 

“He’s probably just going through a rebellious phase right now,” Mark says, shrugging. “Not wanting to listen to the teacher, going against the system, that kind of thing.”

Jaebeom chuckles. “Isn’t that only supposed to happen when they’re teenagers, though?”

“Kids can defy at any age,” Mark insists, as if he is such an expert at child-rearing. He speaks as if he’s a wise old women who has raised ten children from infanthood.

Jinyoung sighs. “This might be a defiance problem, but this is also Jeongin we’re talking about. He’s pretty well-behaved. I think if you told him that his behavior is disruptive, he’d stop. He’s probably just fueled by the twins laughing at him and egging him on.”

“Then that’s not my problem, that’s Jackson’s problem. His kids are a bad influence to mine,” he says, amused. 

“Mark Tuan, please just tell Jeongin that he needs to speak Korean in order for me to teach him, okay?” Jinyoung requests, getting to the end of his patience. “Thank you.”

Mark and Jaebeom end up leaving the classroom together, chatting about Jeongin’s newfound problem. “He’s been spending a lot of time with Felix and Jisung nowadays. I’m a preschool teacher and sometimes my hours can get a little weird, and same with Jackson’s job, so we end up babysitting each other’s kids a lot. They don’t seem to mind much, but maybe their chaoticness is spreading to Jeongin now.” 

“That’s good that you and Jackson can like, work together with that.”

“Yeah, I’m grateful we’re all friends. It really helps with getting advice and not paying for a babysitter because we repay the favor later anyway,” Mark says, smiling. “It’s a good setup. If you ever need a babysitter for Hyunjin, the Tuan-Wang babysitting service is available.”

Jaebeom laughs heartily, imagining Mark’s and Jackson’s faces on a billboard advertisement. “Thanks. I’m sure Hyunjin would love that.”

Like Mark said, Jaebeom is also grateful for this “single dad squad” that they’ve formed. It’s made daily life that much more entertaining.


	4. four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Bring Your Parent to School Day at Hyunjin's elementary school.

Hyunjin presents Jaebeom with the weekly classroom newsletter when they get home after school and work. He glances over it quickly, as most of the time it’s just alerts about upcoming exams as well as PTO meetings and sports signups that both Jaebeom and Hyunjin could care less about. But the one thing in bold is “Bring Your Parents to School Day.”

Jaebeom has never heard of this in his life. Eyebrow raised, he reads on. “On Monday, students will have the opportunity to bring one or both parents or legal guardians with them to school for a fun day of snacks, group activities, and crafts. Sign up for this activity by emailing your student’s homeroom teacher with the names of which parent(s) will be attending.” He glances at Hyunjin. “Do you want me to come to school with you?”

Hyunjin looks so excited his hair is frizzing. “Yes! You can meet my friends! They saw you once on the day I was sick and they thought your nose piercing was cool.”

He’s not going to lie, he’s vaguely embarrassed by this. Piercings aren’t exactly “fatherly” and he knows he’s going to get some looks from the other, older parents, but at least Hyunjin’s friends appreciate them. “I’ll come then,” he says, thinking about how he’ll just have to reschedule work on that day.

Hyunjin has began his homework at the dining room table, but he looks up at Jaebeom. “Are you friends with Mr. Park?” he asks.

The question has Jaebeom a little flustered. “What?”

“Mr. Park asked how you and I were doing when he said hello to me this morning. If you ask how someone’s doing, that means you’re friends, right?” Hyunjin says, tilting his head.

Jaebeom is first caught off-guard by the fact that Jinyoung had asked about him. He doesn’t know what to make of it, but he decides it’s probably just him being polite. He’s also endeared by Hyunjin’s concept of friendship, and he doesn’t want to have to explain the nuance that just because people have talked to each other doesn’t constitute a friendship.

So, “Yes, we’re friends,” is Jaebeom’s answer.

Hyunjin nods knowingly, returning his attention to coloring something on his worksheet. “I told him about how you stepped on Nora’s paw on accident and you cried and I brought you a popsicle to make you feel better.”

Jaebeom’s face flushes a bright, bright red. He hides it in the palm of his hands, wanting to scream a little but not wanting to confuse Hyunjin, who of course would find it perfectly okay to share such stories with his teacher. Dizzily, he starts preparing food for dinner, wondering what Jinyoung’s reaction had been.

Later, when Jaebeom, Hyunjin, and Nora are sitting on the sofa together watching Hyunjin’s favorite children’s show, Jaebeom sets his laptop on his lap and starts writing the email to Jinyoung about attending the parent day thing. He struggles for a solid ten minutes on how to begin it, but he decides he’s overthinking it.

“Hey, I’m emailing you to let you know that I’ll be coming to the bring your parent to school day on Monday! I’ll also bring cookies for the snacks.” It’s probably far too informal an email to send to your child’s teacher, but Jaebeom doesn’t want to suffer through a rewrite and sends it anyway.

He’s caught up in the plotline of the animated penguin’s journey when his laptop makes a “ding” noise ten minutes later. Glancing at the screen, he sees that he’s gotten a reply from Jinyoung and he opens it a little too quickly. 

“Hey Jaebeom! Thanks for letting me know you’re coming. The cookies will be very appreciated by the way~ I’ll see you then.” At the end of his email is his automated signature, “Park Jinyoung” followed by all of his contact information and credentials, which are included in every email he writes. He smiles a tiny bit, and decides that he’s looking forward to Monday.

That Monday morning is a bit of a busy one, because even though Jaebeom doesn’t have to go to work, he still spends an excessive amount of time deliberating on his outfit. At one point, he even asks his six year old child for advice, but Hyunjin has nothing more to offer than a, “You look really cool!”

He settles on a “laidback young dad” style and fluffs up his hair a couple times before putting on his coat and collecting Hyunjin, who is already ready to go.

All of the parents are required to sign in at the front office (Bambam must really be tired of seeing Jaebeom by now). They exchange knowing glances as Jaebeom waits in line behind a mother and a father who are signing in together, and taking quiet a while to do so.

In the meantime, Yugyeom walks in carrying a stack of papers. “Is this where I turn these in? They’re student attendance forms,” he says, awkwardly standing in the doorway.

Bambam spots Yugyeom, and nods immediately. “Yeah, I can take those.” As Yugyeom hands them over the desk, their fingers brush and both of them notice by the way Yugyeom blushes. Jaebeom nearly rolls his eyes at the sight.

“You’re Park Jinyoung’s student teacher, right?” Bambam asks conversationally as Jaebeom comes up to sign his visitor’s pass. 

“I am… I’m new so I don’t really know how things work yet,” he confesses, taking a few moments to lean against the desk and chat even though he should probably get back to Jinyoung’s room before class starts.

“Yeah, me too. I heard through the grapevine that the only reason I got employed, being a college student with little experience in the area, was because they got the papers mixed up and called and accepted the wrong person and that happened to be me,” Bambam explains. “So we’re kind of in the same boat, huh?” Jaebeom catches Bambam winking and in the corner of his eye, Yugyeom looks like he’s going to pass out.

He quickly affixes the tag to his chest and takes Hyunjin away so he doesn’t have to be exposed to the horrible, awkward flirting going on in the office. 

When they enter Hyunjin’s classroom, Jinyoung is at his desk on the phone saying in a hushed (yet loud) voice, “Stop flirting with him and let Yugyeom come back to the classroom! I need him here to set things up!” He hangs up, mildly frustrated.

“Need help?” Jaebeom asks.

Jinyoung’s eyes snap up. “Oh, hi Jaebeom! It’s okay, you don’t have to… maybe if Bambam’s holding Yugyeom hostage, I might need the help though.”

Jaebeom laughs, thinking back on the dialogue he’d heard earlier. He doesn’t get a chance to respond because Hyunjin’s dragging him away by the sleeve and Jinyoung just gives him a knowing smile.

Hyunjin’s desk is in a cluster of other desks, labeled with his name in his messy, child-like handwriting and decorated in stars and clouds. 

“Usually I sit with more people, but Mr. Park rearranged the clusters so that the parents can sit in their own desks, too,” he explains. Jaebeom does notice how crowded the room is. Luckily it doesn’t appear that every kid brought both of their parents. Most have brought only one (it makes his heart a little happier to see that each kid has someone, whether it be a grandparent or some other relative).

Jaebeom looks besides Hyunjin’s desk and sees a name tag written in what he assumes is Jinyoung’s handwriting: “Im Jaebeom,” in clean Sharpie print. The other tables happen to have the names “Jeongin,” “Felix,” “Jisung,” and “Jackson Wang” and “Mark Tuan.” What a lovely time for the single dad squad to meet up.

Sure enough, as he’s sitting down beside Hyunjin, he sees Jackson talking to a group of moms. He’s clearly the center of attention because said moms are looking at him like he’s descended from heaven.

One would think that a perk of being a single dad would be constant attention from women who find it sexy that a dad cares for his own child, but Jaebeom isn’t into women and he also has never seen this phenomena happen for anyone but Jackson. 

Mark and Jeongin come inside and go to set their snacks next to Jaebeom’s cookies on the table. Mark looks around to greet Jinyoung, but the guy has disappeared. Jaebeom waves him over, then, to come sit.

Hyunjin and Jeongin greet each other with a hug while Mark inspects his name label on his designated desk. “Wow, I feel like a kid again,” he jokes. He sits down into the kid-sized chair, looking less ridiculous than Jaebeom probably looks with his huge shoulders.

“Jinyoung’s probably in the office, by the way. Bambam the secretary likes flirting with Yugyeom the student teacher, apparently,” Jaebeom tells Mark matter-of-factly.

“You’re caught up on all the gossip, huh?”

“I witness it with my own eyes,” he mutters. 

Jackson returns to the desk with a kid in each hand. “Hey guys!” he says brightly, sliding into his seat. “What a beautiful day to return to elementary school memories.”

“I’m surprised you managed to get the day off,” Mark tells him. “I hardly did. But I was able to get a substitute teacher for my class. Kids were elated about that one.”

Jackson shrugs. “My boss is a sucker for kids. When I told her about this event she immediately agreed, claiming I can’t miss an opportunity like this with my kids.” He laughs. “You know, I’ve never heard anything like this before. Bring Your Parent to School Day? Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? Because I did that once and Felix and Jisung collected like twenty pieces of candies from everyone in the building.”

Jinyoung clears his throat and halts all conversation in the room pretty effectively. “Hello everyone, I’m happy to see everyone here on a Monday with their kids. This is the first time we’re doing something like this, so I hope it’s enjoyable for you all. We have snacks at the back that will be available during lunch time, but for now, we’re going to get started with our day.”

The day begins with arts and crafts. Jinyoung coaches the class through origami. Admittedly, Hyunjin has to help Jaebeom fix his a couple times and Jackson and Mark makes lots of fun of him. But he sees a lot of other confused parents, so Jinyoung calls this activity off early and they go on to fingerpainting.

“How come we can’t fingerpaint at home?” Felix whines to his father as Jinyoung brings over several little jars of paint and paper.

“Because we just got new carpet, love,” Jackson explains.

“Don’t worry, this paint is washable. If you get it on anything, it’ll wash out really easily,” Jinyoung tells them, smiling as he observes the boys eagerly grabbing the paint jars. Jisung and Hyunjin briefly fight over the purple jar before Jisung settles for the more attractive blue color that Jinyoung offers him.

Mark glances at Jinyoung in amusement. “You’re a natural at this whole dealing with kids thing.”

Jinyoung keeps his smile as he shrugs. He kneels down besides Hyunjin’s desk and helps him open the brand new paint jar since Jaebeom’s hands have paint on them. “I’ve got a lot of experience,” he explains. “Plus, it’s my job. I enjoy it a lot.”

Jaebeom’s fingers, stained with dark blue paint, rest on the table as he watches Hyunjin painting with a clear vision. Jaebeom’s working on a very adult landscape while Hyunjin appears to be outlining whatever he’s drawing.

“Don’t look yet, Daddy, it’s a surprise,” he scolds, nudging him aside.

“Okay, okay, I won’t look.” 

A couple moments after Jinyoung’s left to help a different table, Jackson is holding up his paper, which is a very cartoon-style of Felix and Jisung. The twins are beaming at their father’s illustration, and Jackson takes it upon himself to hang it on the whiteboard at the front of the class.

Inevitably, this attracts the attention of the moms in the class, and they’re all cooing over how cute the drawing is and asking if Jackson’s ever taking art classes before and what his kids’ names are. He indulges them, enjoying the attention, but Jaebeom spots one person who is not enjoying the scene.

That person is Mark Tuan, who has a sour look on his face as he paints something red and angry with his thumb. Jaebeom glances from Mark to Jackson, and back again, before he immediately understands what’s wrong.

“Mark, meet me at the snack table,” Jaebeom announces, cleaning off his fingers with a nearby Wet Wipe.

Reluctantly, he obliges, leaving the kids to their paintings. They’re careful to not trip over kids who are sitting with their chair way out in the aisle. Mark sneakily takes one of the cookies to eat while Jaebeom faces him with his arms folded.

“Are you jealous?”

“Of what?” _Okay, so he’s playing dumb._

“You like Jackson, don’t you?” Jaebeom presses, wanting to be as blunt as possible since Mark will dodge any other way of asking.

“A little, I guess, I just… I don’t know.” He buries his face in the palms of his hands and ends up smudging a little paint on his cheek. “I can’t believe I’m having this conversation in an elementary school classroom, but yeah. I like him. It kills me because I feel like a high schooler again.”

Jaebeom grins. “Then ask him out.”

“I can’t!” he protests in a hushed tone. “Like, I don’t know… I don’t know if he’d want to date anyone when he has a full time job and two kids to look after. And besides, I have a kid. Would he even want to date me when I’m a busy single dad too?”

He frowns, putting a hand on Mark’s shoulder. “Dude. Jackson adores kids. You’d want to date him. He even knows Jeongin already. This is a perfect situation. Yeah, you two might be busy, but Jackson’s the kind of person that would make sure things work out.”

Mark calms down a second. “Okay, but then that leaves the big question. I don’t think he likes me in that way.”

Jaebeom glances over at Jackson, who has now returned to the desks and is giving Jaebeom and Mark weird looks. “You should find that out yourself,” Jaebeom says to Mark before walking back, pulling Mark behind him.

As soon as they sit down, a strange silence falls over the cluster and it makes it all very awkward until Felix and Jeongin start having a conversation about the book they’re reading for school and the silence breaks.

Hyunjin taps Jaebeom’s hand, leaving some green paint residue but Jaebeom doesn’t particularly mind. He looks over at the paper that Hyunjin presents him with, his painting that he’s been working on.

It has sky blue paint on the top and dark blue paint on the bottom, which is probably a lake. There is a bigger frog on a lilypad, sitting next to a smaller frog on a lilypad, both of which look very happy, in fact, Hyunjin has painted sparkles around them, complete with a little red heart.

“The small frog is me and the big frog is you,” Hyunjin explains. “It’s a family portrait.”

Jaebeom’s heart is absolutely melted. “Oh, Hyunjin, it’s adorable. I’ll hang it on the fridge when we get home. You’re such an artist.”

Hyunjin is beaming now as Jaebeom continues looking at his son’s work. He notices a lone lilypad that doesn’t have a frog sitting on it. “Why is there an extra lilypad?” he asks, figuring the artist might have some kind of deeper meaning behind it, as most artists do.

“The extra lilypad is there if I ever got another daddy so he can have somewhere to sit too,” Hyunjin tells him, so casually, as if his words didn’t just shatter Jaebeom’s heart into a thousand pieces at how cute he is.

He even hears Jackson and Mark “aww”ing but it’s a distant sound because Jaebeom isn’t paying attention to them. He’s constantly endeared by his son and his words and his heart.

“It’s beautiful, Hyunjin.”

He makes sure to set the picture aside so it can dry and they won’t forget about it.

The next activity is general knowledge trivia, which Jackson claims to be fantastic at. Each cluster is a team, so apparently Jaebeom will have a genius on his. The students on the winning team all get extra credit as an incentive (Felix and Jisung get really excited at this).

Jinyoung is the host, accompanied by Yugyeom who sits on a stool next to the board and is on the lookout for people googling things and cheating. 

It appears as though Jinyoung has spent a decent amount of time making this trivia game, considering that it looks really nice and everyone in the room is enjoying it. Jaebeom especially enjoys Jackson’s bullshit answers and how determined Hyunjin, Jeongin, Felix, and Jisung are to win. 

After the group closest to the board gets the question right, one of the kids throws their hands up while cheering so much that their water bottle gets knocked off their desk. Jinyoung goes to pick it up and Jaebeom makes the discovery that the dress pants look nice on Jinyoung.

Apparently he’s blushing because Jackson is looking directly at him and he seems to connect the dots in seconds, after determining where Jaebeom’s gaze had went. He’s got a mischievous grin on his face now and Jaebeom wants to choke him. Unfortunately, that would probably get him banned from entering this school ever again, and he really needs Hyunjin to graduate fifth grade.

Hyunjin ends up winning the game for their team by answering some obscure frog biology fact that Jaebeom suspects Jinyoung may have put in there for him, but Jaebeom isn’t going to complain about favoritism if it benefits his son.

Lunch time is next, so the boys celebrate with cupcakes while they eat, and then after that, is recess. 

“Daddy let’s play soccer!” Hyunjin says, bouncing around with a soccer ball in hand, the other three kids also swarming around their fathers as they walk outside, underneath the sun. 

“It’ll be uneven teams, though. There’s seven of us,” Jackson points out. 

Hyunjin thinks deeply for a few seconds before he’s running away. Jaebeom watches as he runs right up to Jinyoung, who just left the school building with Yugyeom after all the parents and their kids have gotten outside. He looks down at Hyunjin, mildly surprised. “Hey Hyunjin. What’s up?”

“Do you want to play soccer with us so that we can have two teams? We need one more person,” Hyunjin pleads. 

Jinyoung glances up to see the group of them awaiting an answer. A faint redness comes to his cheeks as he seems to contemplate his answer and as Yugyeom stares at him with an expectant grin.

“Mr. Park, pretty please!” Hyunjin continues, tugging at his teacher’s sleeve. 

It’s as if Jinyoung can’t resist Hyunjin’s sweet voice and puppy dog eyes, because he agrees. “Okay, I’ll play.”

The kids cheer as Jinyoung hands off some extra papers he was probably going to grade to Yugyeom, who goes to sit at a picnic table nearby. 

“I think the teams should be even. Two adults and two kids in each one,” Jisung suggests excitedly.

Hyunjin seems to have made his choice on what adult he wants on his team, because he’s still hanging on to Jinyoung’s hand. Meanwhile, Felix insists on being on Hyunjin’s team and Jackson insists on winning against Mark, so it ends up that the teams are Jinyoung, Jackson, Hyunjin, and Felix versus Jaebeom, Mark, Jeongin, and Jisung.

Jaebeom is mildly hurt that his son chose his teacher over him, but he does his best to ignore it. 

The game starts with the kids and Jackson being the most energetic players until Jackson accidentally kicks the ball roughly into Mark’s knee and he vows his revenge. This ends up with Mark chasing a cackling Jackson with the soccer ball in hand and Felix yelling about how that was very much against the rules.

Hyunjin scores many goals despite Jaebeom actually trying and not just going easy on him since he’s six years old. Every goal scored, Hyunjin bursts out into laughter and Jinyoung gives him a high-five (most of the time it is Jinyoung and Hyunjin actively conspiring against him, Jaebeom notices, when the two use their teamwork to kick it just out of Jaebeom’s reach).

Another goal is scored by Hyunjin and Jaebeom’s panting, out of breath, and he happens to look at Jinyoung, whose eyes are sparkling in the sun and his hair, normally perfectly styled, is mussed from the running. He’s laughing and his smile makes him looks like a model, or an actor from a movie and Jaebeom can’t even bring himself to look away.

Until a ball hits him squarely in the head and he falls over just from the surprise of it.

In an instant, Jinyoung’s kneeling beside him as he vaguely hears Jackson telling Jisung to try and not aim at people’s heads. “You okay?” Jinyoung asks, his voice still light with amusement. “The ball hit you pretty quickly.”

“I’m fine, it just surprised me, that’s all,” Jaebeom reasons as he moves to a sitting position and sees Jisung’s pale face. “I’m okay everyone!”

Hyunjin runs over and pulls his father back to his feet. “Come on, we have to finish the game before recess is over!” He laughs at his urgency and lets himself be pulled up.

Predictably, the game ends with Hyunjin’s team winning and the walk back to class is spent with Jackson teasing Mark about his victory. Also with Jaebeom looking at a mildly sweaty Jinyoung.

The rest of the day is spent in similar ways, with other fun group activities that Jaebeom’s son is always better than him at (and he absolutely doesn’t mind). 

He’s almost as saddened as Hyunjin is when the day is over and Jinyoung dismisses class. It was honestly a lot of fun, although it probably wouldn’t be that way if it weren’t for the teacher that organized it.

He manages to say goodbye to Jinyoung amid the flurry of other parents, and he’s rewarded with that signature smile and a little wave. Happy, he goes to help Hyunjin get his things together from his cubby in the hallway.

He finds Jackson and Mark before he finds Hyunjin. “They went on a group outing to the bathroom,” Mark explains, leaning against the wall as they wait.

“I see.”

Jackson has always been someone to get straight to the point, Jaebeom concludes, because he says, “If it isn’t Mr. Im Jaebeom. I think _someone_ thinks that Jinyoung is hot~”

Jaebeom’s nearly instantaneous blushing does nothing to help him dispute this, basically confirming it for Jackson before Jaebeom can even say anything.

“You were staring at his ass in the classroom and staring at his face when my son kicked a ball at your head. You’re pretty obvious,” Jackson states bluntly.

_Am I?_

Mark tilts his head, looking thoughtful. “Have you thought about dating?” 

“Dating?” Jaebeom sputters as his brain tries to process the idea of dating Park Jinyoung, his son’s first grade teacher. “I’m not- I’m not going to ask him out!”

Jackson continues his teasing. He’s absolutely enjoying Jaebeom’s embarrassment. “You should, though. C’mon, he’s a hot guy who loves kids, what more could you want?”

“He’s Hyunjin’s _teacher_!” Jaebeom hisses, nearly pleading with someone to agree with him, that this is absolutely ridiculous and that he shouldn’t do it.

But both Mark and Jackson roll their eyes, nearly in sync.

The conversation, if you could call it that, ends there, because the flock of children arrives and Jaebeom would not _dare_ talk about this topic in front of his son. He quickly collects Hyunjin and gives Jackson and Mark a short goodbye to escape the chaos.

As soon as he and Hyunjin arrive home, Jaebeom hangs up the frog painting with a magnet on the refrigerator, as promised. Looking at it, he has one of those warm moments where he’s really glad that he has a son and that his son loves him so much. He’s glad that he can return that love.

One night, when Jaebeom is cooking dinner in the kitchen, humming to himself, he hears tiny tell-tale footsteps and looks up to see Hyunjin walking in. “Hey Hyunjin.”

He appears a little breathless, as if he had ran. “I almost forgot something,” he says, digging through his backpack before pulling out a small piece of paper. “This is for you.” He hands Jaebeom said piece of paper.

Jaebeom looks at the folded paper in his palm in confusion.

“Mr. Park told me to give it to you,” Hyunjin explains. “I don’t know what’s inside it because I didn’t look.”

He wonders why Mr. Park would send a paper message through Hyunjin rather than emailing him. He unfolds the paper- its contents are a series of digits written in purple crayon, signed “Jinyoung.”

Jaebeom feels like he could pass out or scream, or both. _It’s Jinyoung’s fucking phone number._

He takes a step back, dizzily, to support himself by putting a hand on the counter, but he slips on one of Nora’s cat toys that had been left on the tile, and he falls quite dramatically to the floor.

For a few seconds, he doesn’t bother getting back up because he is just taking in the moment, of the initial emotions post-receiving-Jinyoung’s-phone-number. But this freaks out Hyunjin, who runs over and kneels beside him. “Daddy, are you okay? Should I call 911?”

He heaves himself up so he can sit. “No, kiddo, I’m fine. Thank you, though.”

Jaebeom cannot believe that Jinyoung has given him his number. 

Later, he manages to muster the confidence to send him a text. He erases and rewrites his text probably twenty times before deciding on “Hey Jinyoung, this is Jaebeom. I got your note, the crayon was a nice touch.”

The time it takes for Jinyoung to reply seems like forever (Jaebeom tries to convince himself he isn’t waiting or counting the minutes), but he eventually gets that telltale notification that brings him back from his daze. 

“Thank you~ I’m glad you liked it lol. Hyunjin suggested it.”

Jaebeom’s blushing just from this small bit of conversation, never having imagined talking to Jinyoung over text. As Jackson would say, he’s a bit head over heels. Is it a problem? Maybe, but Jaebeom will address it later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment and let me know what you think!


	5. five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the time of year for parent-teacher conferences. Also, Jaebeom is asked to babysit Jackson's and Mark's kids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw // brief mention of injury

The next time Jaebeom comes to the school is for parent teacher conferences. It is set up this year so that each parent can travel to individual classrooms at their leisure to talk to their students’ teachers. Since Hyunjin is in first grade, his only teachers are Jinyoung, the music teacher, and the gym teacher, since Jinyoung teaches everything else. Jaebeom doesn’t care to see the gym teacher, but he decides to swing by the music room first.

Youngjae is there, sitting on one of the student tables and talking to parents. Most of what Jaebeom can hear is absolute praise, and he decides that Youngjae is probably one of those teachers couldn’t find a single thing wrong with any of his students.

When Jaebeom and Hyunjin get to him, he smiles so brightly. “Hello Hyunjin!” He looks up at Jaebeom. “Hyunjin is honest to god one of my favorite students.”

“Is he now?” Jaebeom teases.

Youngjae nods. “Yes, he’s very hardworking and take his music skills seriously. I see a lot of potential in music classes for him in the future. He might be interested in signing up to play an instrument in fourth grade!”

Hyunjin’s eyes start sparkling and Jaebeom knows that he’s excited. “Daddy, can I play piano?”

He chuckles. “If that’s what you want, sure.”

“He could also join the band or orchestra. Or the choir, if he wants to sing,” Youngjae suggests. “That way he can use his musical skills for class.”

Jaebeom’s a little dazed about all this talk of Hyunjin’s educational future. It reminds him, for a half-second, that Hyunjin will eventually grow older but that is not something Jaebeom is fond of thinking about (he wants Hyunjin to be his baby forever- also the thought of Hyunjin becoming a teenager scares him). 

“If you want an actual academic report,” Youngjae shuffles through some papers he set aside, “Hyunjin’s done perfectly. He always attends class unless he’s excused, he always gets the participation points and he’s passed all the tests.” He grins. “What more could you want, right?”

“Right,” Jaebeom agrees, patting Hyunjin’s head in praise.

Youngjae glances back at the paper. “He’s in Jinyoung’s class, huh? I always hear that the kids do really well in Jinyoung’s class, even though most of the staff assume he’s really strict with them. Jinyoung and I actually used to be roommates in college, so I know his true colors.” He laughs. “He’s the sweetest towards kids and I’m surprised he doesn’t have any of his own yet. I guess it’s because he’s not in a serious relationship or married right now.” He stops himself after a moment, bursting into more laughter. “I’m sorry for going off on a tangent. The staff here always gossip so I’m used to having these kind of conversations when there’s adults around.”

“The teachers gossip?”

“Yeah, there’s some really interesting rumors going around right now. That the principal is getting a divorce because his wife thinks he doesn’t make enough money, that the secretary and one of the student teachers have crushes on each other. That one’s actually pretty cute. Half the staff want them to start dating but all they do is like, stare at each other and laugh and blush when the other’s in the room. Bambam’s got some pickup lines but they’re always so cringey.” 

Jaebeom laughs at the memory of having to experience that himself. “Ah, I work in an office so there’s never much drama. It must be nice.”

Youngjae returns the smile. “It’s really something else, working here.”

Their conversation doesn’t last much longer because Hyunjin is saying goodbye to Mr. Choi and informing Jaebeom that they have to go see Mr. Park now. Jaebeom doesn’t argue and follows him out of the room.

Predictably, Mr. Park’s room has a lot of parents waiting in line. Even more predictably, Jackson and Mark happen to be at the end of the line and their kids are playing with legos on the other side of the room.

“I see you two too often,” Jaebeom jokes as he gets in line after Hyunjin’s already run off to join in on the legos.

They greet him happily, but Jackson already has something to say regarding him, apparently, because he faces him. “So I just got back from talking to Mr. Choi like fifteen minutes ago. And he informed me that Jinyoung has been texting someone lately and everyone thinks he has a boyfriend. Which I don’t know why he told me that, but… anyway, I thought you should know.”

“Probably because you asked him if Jinyoung was single the last time you two spoke,” Mark says, but his words are ignored.

“Um… I mean, he gave me his phone number like, two weeks ago,” Jaebeom replies, having conveniently forgotten to say anything to Jackson or Mark about it.

Jackson’s eyes go wide. “Jinyoung gave you his phone number!?”

“Yeah,” he confirms, blushing a little because he still can’t believe it.

“Dude,” Jackson starts whining, “you need to ask him out already! If he gave you his number that means he likes you and wants to talk to you!”

“Or it could just be so that he can reach me if anything’s wrong with Hyunjin,” Jaebeom suggests.

He rolls his eyes. “Dear god, Jaebeom. That’s what email is for. Texting is much more intimate, you know?”

“I hate that word please don’t use it again.”

“Intimate?”

“Please shut up Jackson. Jinyoung is literally ten feet away,” Jaebeom hisses.

Jackson quiets down but Jaebeom is not sure for how much longer. 

He notices Yugyeom sitting on a table nearby when Jackson decides to strike up conversation. “So you’re a college kid, huh?”

“Yeah, it’s for my teaching degree. I was assigned to Jinyoung’s classroom on purpose because he’s widely acknowledged as the kid-wizard and I am definitely not.” He chuckles. “Socializing with kids is tough.”

“You just have treat them like mini adults,” Jackson advises. “Like adults that would make poor decisions so you have to make sure they don’t do anything stupid. Trust me, my kids have done a lot of stupid things.”

Yugyeom snorts. “Yeah. _I know._ ”

“Hey!” he protests. “My kids are angels.”

“Not when they try learning morse code to cheat on their math test and annoy the hell out of everyone at their table with their pencil tapping.”

At that moment, the secretary Bambam appears in the room, just in time to slide into the line and give Yugyeom a smile. “Hey, I see you’ve made friends with the father of the delinquent.”

“Hyunjin is not a delinquent! I just have to come to the school a lot for various different reasons,” Jaebeom says defensively.

“Whatever you say. The amount of visitor passes you’ve gone through tells a different story.”

Yugyeom laughs at this. “Yeah, I _do_ see you around here a lot. Sometimes more than the people who actually work here.”

Bambam glances at Yugyeom, folding his arms. “Maybe because you stay in this classroom all the time when you could be hanging out in the front office with me. You could be having a much more fun time-”

“Bambam, why the f-... _why_ are you here? Please move out of the way so I can talk to the parents,” Jinyoung demands, and they all notice that they’re suddenly at the front of the line.

He obeys, albeit reluctantly, taking a step to the side. “Not my fault these people like to talk.”

“Okay, but-”

“I’m just an extrovert, Bambam, please be understanding. My need to talk to people is part of who I am. It is not annoying,” Jackson says, all very dramatically.

Mark’s lips tighten. “Oh, I think some of us might disagree.”

“When has my talking to people ever been annoying?” he asks incredulously as he faces Mark with his arms crossed.

“When you let all the single moms fawn all over you like you’re a piece of meat. It’s frustrating to see you giving attention to the people that don’t care about you rather than the people that do.”

Jaebeom stands awkwardly, wide-eyed as he listens to this high-tension conversation he feels he should not be a part of.

Jackson huffs. “Maybe if you weren’t a dumbass, you’d know that I have eyes only for you, idiot.”

Mark goes silent.

No one says anything for ten seconds. They’re all slack-jawed, including Jinyoung, but he manages to be the first one to break the silence. “Maybe you two should take this into the hallway,” he suggests.

Jackson nods and pulls Mark away by the wrist, and just like that the tension lifts. A few of the parents in line behind them give them dirty looks, though- Jaebeom is sure a kid in the room had heard Jackson’s use of the expletive “dumbass.”

“Damn,” Bambam mutters.

“Language.” Jinyoung gives him a glare. “And maybe if you stopped coming here to flirt than we wouldn’t have had this scene in front of all the children.”

Yugyeom blushes. “I feel like that was bound to happen anyway. They were flirting a lot at Bring Your Parent to School Day. Speaking of which, remind me why you came up with that idea, Jinyoung.”

“I think we could all use some bonding in this community, between the students and the parents and the teachers, you know?” Jinyoung defends himself, stumbling a little over his words. “Anyway, you two need to leave and stop bothering people so I can actually have these conferences. You’re wasting poor Jaebeom’s time.”

“I think he’s enjoying this,” Bambam says, shrugging as he hops off the table. “I’ll be in the office if you need me, Yugyeom.” He leaves with a flourished wave.

Jinyoung sighs, before looking up at Jaebeom and smiling. “Sorry about that.” He pulls out some papers. “I think we’ve already been over this with Hyunjin, huh? There’s not much to say,” he teases.

“Please, tell me more about how my child is an angel,” Jaebeom teases back, sitting down into one of the chairs positioned in front of his desk.

Jinyoung laughs (it’s almost a giggle). “Well, he did very well on his Korean test recently. Have you been reading to him?” Jaebeom nods. “Looks like it’s paying off, then. He’s at an advanced reading level now, which is a nice improvement from his previous test performances… He’s doing great in math, as well. He actually asks me to do multiplication flashcards with him if there’s a free period and he’s bored. You’ve got quite the diligent kid on your hands.”

Jaebeom’s gleaming with pride. “Of course.”

“He takes a lot of interest in science, particularly biology. Animals are his favorite, but you probably knew that already. We have an animal of the day each day, and Hyunjin illustrates each one. A few of them are hanging up around the room.”

“Aww, that’s so cute,” he whines, looking up at the walls and seeing a tiger drawn in crayon that must be Hyunjin’s. 

“I’ll give them to you at the end of the year so you can have them,” Jinyoung promises. He glances back at his stack of papers. “Overall, as I’ve always said, Hyunjin is a great kid and I’m glad to have him in my class. I’m not lying, he makes the classroom brighter sometimes… And I also think that he’s glad to have a dad that supports him so well.”

Jaebeom meets Jinyoung’s sparkling gaze. He’s probably blushing, but at least Jackson’s not here to see it. “Thanks, but I think most of it is Hyunjin being Hyunjin.”

“That might be true but you’re the one that raised him. Kids aren’t necessarily born smart, Jaebeom,” he reminds him, the smile gentle on his face. “All in all, I’m happy to be Hyunjin’s teacher. I doubt I’ll have anything different to say at the end-of-the-year conferences.”

“Good, that’s great,” Jaebeom says, standing up because he can feel the impatient parents behind him throwing daggers into the back of his head. “I’ll see you then. I mean, probably before then, but I’ll see you there, too.”

Jinyoung laughs lightly. “Yep. See you later, Jaebeom.”

The “see you later” saddens Jaebeom a little bit, because he’d prefer not to hear those words, but he nods and says goodbye anyway. He walks over to Hyunjin, who is still playing with legos with Jisung, Felix, and Jeongin, the group of them having built a tower that looks like it will collapse if someone knocks the table.

“Time to go, Hyunjin,” Jaebeom announces.

“What did Mr. Park say?” he asks curiously.

“He said you’re a wonderful student. I’m very proud of you, kiddo.” He glances at the other kids, figuring that Jackson and Mark haven’t gotten done with their hallway conversation. 

Jaebeom goes into the hallway with Hyunjin, and sees Jackson and Mark hugging it out, relief filling Mark’s eyes from Jaebeom’s angle.

“Your kids have been abandoned in the lego corner,” Jaebeom says, startling them both.

Jackson runs a hand through his hair. “Oh, um, completely forgot about that. Conferences. Right. Do you think Jinyoung has anything to say other than his comments about how ‘sneaky and clever’ my children are?”

“Did something happen out here?” Jaebeom presses, seeing that clearly the atmosphere between the two has changed since the outburst in Jinyoung’s classroom. 

Mark nods. “We’ve decided to start dating.” (Jackson looks very proud of himself.)

“Aw, congrats. Totally didn’t see that coming.”

“And you, Jaebeom, will be our designated babysitter on date nights,” Jackson adds, grinning like an idiot.

“... Lovely.” The thought of looking after four six-year-olds at the same time is very daunting to him, but he supposes he’ll manage, for the sake of his friends’ love life. Plus, he’s sure Hyunjin would enjoy it.

Jaebeom considers this round of parent-teacher conferences a success. Hyunjin is a good student, his two friends got together, and he got to talk to Jinyoung again. 

As he drives Hyunjin home, he thinks about Jackson’s insistence that Jaebeom ask Jinyoung out. Not that he’d ever admit it to anyone, but he’d love to date him. The thing is, would he be willing to risk humiliation like that? Jinyoung could easily say something like, “You’re my student’s father and this is unprofessional, sorry.”

That totally wouldn’t shatter his heart at all. 

The other bonus is that Jinyoung’s Hyunjin’s favorite teacher… Hyunjin wouldn’t mind at all if he saw him more often. But Jaebeom doesn’t let himself think that far ahead.

Jaebeom’s phone starts ringing loudly from the kitchen counter where he left it, while he’s in the middle of brushing his teeth. Sighing, he spits out the toothpaste and runs into the kitchen where he sees Hyunjin answering his phone.

“Hello Jackson?” He pauses, and then holds out the phone for Jaebeom. “It’s for you.”

“Thank you, can you get your backpack together? We need to leave in ten minutes,” he tells him before putting the phone to his ear. “Hi Jackson, _why_ are you calling me so early in the morning?”

“So, the thing is, Mark and I both have busy schedules today. It’s not a date night, it’s work-related, I promise, but we still need your help.”

“What kind of help?”

“Do you think you could pick our kids up after school and watch them till like, 6pm? I know it’s really sudden but you can drop Hyunjin off with us without warning, too,” Jackson says pleadingly.

Jaebeom rubs his temple, stressed. “Jackson, I only have one car seat.”

“We’ll leave the car seats with Jinyoung,” he reasons. “Please Jaebeom?”

“Fine, fine. I need to go now though, I’ll talk to you later.”

“I already told Jinyoung you’re getting them so you’re all good! Thank you!” Jackson sings before hanging up.

Hyunjin looks at him curiously when he puts his phone in his pocket. “What did Jackson say?”

“Jisung, Felix, and Jeongin are going to be coming home with us after school today,” Jaebeom says brightly, as he’s sure Hyunjin will be excited. “You can show them your room.”

“Really?” He’s grinning and bouncing on the tip of his toes. “Yay!”

Jaebeom enjoys his peace at work before he’ll inevitably want to pull his hair out from suddenly being subjected to the care of four children when he has only had one his entire life and that’s been hard enough as it is. 

The thought of raising four Hyunjins is _really_ terrifying. He imagines four infants, four toddlers, four _teenagers_ that hate him and conspire against him.

He shudders.

Later, he arrives at the school slightly after class has been dismissed. He enters Jinyoung’s room and is met with four buzzing children waiting with their coats and backpacks. 

Jinyoung looks up from his desk, a smile coming to his face. “Superdad is here~”

He chuckles, blushing slightly. He spots the car seats Jackson had spoken of and picks one up to inspect it. It’s a very different style than Hyunjin uses and Jaebeom is not entirely sure how to install it in the car (plus the sticker with the instructions on it has been scribbled on with marker). 

“I can help you put that in your car,” Jinyoung offers, clearly seeing Jaebeom’s internal struggle. “My nieces and nephews use similar ones.” He glances at Yugyeom. “Watch the kids, make sure they don’t leave the room or ingest anything they’re not supposed to.”

Yugyeom snorts. “I’ll try my best.”

Jinyoung picks up the remaining car seat and follows Jaebeom out of the room. 

“I got an email from Jackson saying you’d be picking them all up today. It was pretty last minute, huh?”

Jaebeom chuckles. “Yeah, he called me only this morning… he’s lucky my car has enough seats to fit them all.” He directs Jinyoung to his car in the parking lot. “Honestly, looking after four kids at once is pretty intimidating.”

“It doesn’t have to be. I know I say that as someone who looks after 28 kids on a daily basis, but I’m telling the truth,” Jinyoung says, laughing as he opens the car door on the opposite side of Jaebeom and starts setting up the car seat.

“Are you sure about that?” he jokes as he navigates where to put the seat belt on the giant piece of plastic in front of him.

“The key is making sure they aren’t bored. If they don’t have anything to do, they’re going to go around looking for trouble themselves. Especially Felix and Jisung. I’d recommend giving them an activity to do, like a game or something,” Jinyoung suggests. 

“Mmm, good idea.”

Jinyoung manages to have the car seat set up in record time before Jaebeom’s even done with the first one and he moves onto the third one. “I think that since they’re going to their friend’s house that they’ll be pretty occupied, anyway. I don’t think you’ll have much to worry about.”

“We’ll see,” Jaebeom says, shaking the car seat to verify it’s securely attached before standing back. Out of breath, he glances at Jinyoung who is finishing up the last one. “Thanks for helping me out.”

“Yeah, of course.” He steps out of the car, smiling. “Done!”

They walk together, back to the classroom, and Jinyoung looks at the enthusiastic kids. “Excited to go to Hyunjin’s house?” he asks, causing them to bounce up and down at an even higher frequency. 

“Yes! Hyunjin said he has a kitty!” Jeongin exclaims.

Jinyoung glances over at Jaebeom. “Aw, you have a cat?”

“Mr. Park, her name is Nora and I drew a picture of her!” Hyunjin points to the wall at where one of his animal drawings are hung up. 

“Ohh, that’s Nora, huh? You’ll have to show me a picture sometime. But I think your father wants to get home, he’s probably tired,” Jinyoung says, patting each of them on the head. “I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

“Goodbye Mr. Park!” they all sing as they follow Jaebeom out of the room, like a tiny chorus.

Jaebeom quite anxiously herds them across the parking lot, but luckily most of the traffic has gone down and it eases his nerves. “One of you will have to sit in the back of the car,” he announces as they approach it.

“I vote Felix,” Jisung says immediately.

Felix gives his brother a light punch on the shoulder. “No, _you._ Mr. Park had to scold you today for convincing other children to lick Play-Doh.”

Jaebeom holds back a laugh. “Jisung it is then.” He opens the car door and lets the children climb in and he waits until everyone is buckled in before getting in the car to drive home.

The drive is relatively stress-free, as Jaebeom plays the kids’ requested radio channel and they have their absurd child-conversations while Jaebeom drives.

When he opens the front door to his apartment, he spots Nora brushing up against some furniture leisurely, but she darts away when she sees the incoming group of six year olds. Of course, since all children have tunnel vision when it comes to animals, they chase after her with Hyunjin warning not to corner her so she is not scared (he raised Hyunjin well).

Jaebeom takes Jinyoung’s advice and places some board games and toys in the living room in case the boys get bored of the room tour they’re getting from Hyunjin. 

He receives a call in the middle of his making dinner for five. “Hello?” he says without bothering to check the caller-ID.

“Hey, how’s Jaebeom, temporary father of four for a night doing?” Mark teases.

He rolls his eyes. “Perfectly fine, for your information. Hyunjin is showing them around his room right now. They chased my cat around the house. And I’m making dinner for them right now.”

“What a multitasker. Jackson and I will be back around 6 to pick them up, and the car seats, if he hadn’t told you. But I’m sure they’re having a great time and they’ll probably complain when we come to get them,” Mark says with a laugh. “I bet they’re having a lot of fun with Hyunjin.”

“Why are you busy?”

“My preschool students are having their own little music concert thing,” he explains. “I wouldn’t have had time to go pick Jeongin up. You’re a lifesaver, Jaebeom.”

He chuckles as Nora winds in between his legs, having finally escaped the energetic kids. “Yeah, well, you’re lucky to have me. Also, I’m not responsible for getting them to do their homework. It’s not my fault if they don’t.”

“Don’t worry about it. Jeongin will probably do his but Felix and Jisung will avoid it with any opportunity,” Mark informs him. “Jackson will handle that.”

“Do they know you’re dating Jackson?”

“Yeah, they were pretty amused that their dads are together when we told them. They already spend so much time together so they weren’t too fazed by that aspect. It was pretty easy,” Mark reflects. “Anyway, gotta go. The concert is starting soon.”

“Have fun.” Jaebeom hangs up just as the kids come running into the kitchen.

Hyunjin has got his puppy-dog eyes on. “Daddy, can you play restaurant with us? Me and Jeongin are going to be the chefs and we need another customer.”

Much like the twins, Hyunjin also has a set of plastic food and dishes that he enjoys pretending to serve people with (perhaps he will go into the food industry when he’s older). He’s amused just playing with him and Jaebeom and Nora. He’ll pretend to give Nora a plastic fish and gets really upset when she turns her nose away. Jaebeom’s learned through instances like these about how to stop laughing from the sake of his son’s dignity.

“Yes, but after your real dinner, okay? It’s almost ready.”

The kids seem to be satisfied with this as they go off to the living room until Jaebeom’s done. 

It’s an odd feeling, but a good one- sitting at a dining table, eating with four kids. He thinks that this is what it would be like to be the father of more than one child. The thought intrigues Jaebeom, but he knows he personally couldn’t handle more than Hyunjin as a young single father. He figures he’ll just take Mark’s and Jackson’s kids if he ever has baby-fever. 

He manages to survive through the dinner, much to his surprise. The kids seem to be extra behaved for him, and he wonders if Mark or Jackson told them to. 

After dinner’s over, he’s sitting on the floor in front of his coffee table as Hyunjin and Jeongin stand on the other side pretending to cook various aspects of a meal for Felix, who is in front of Jaebeom in line. Jeongin pretends to accidentally burn his finger with boiling water and Hyunjin takes him to the kitchen to run it under cold water. Jaebeom is very impressed at the first aid skills he’s engrained into his child’s brain. 

“Where’s my burger!” Felix yells out. Ah, the challenge of impatient customers. 

Jaebeom’s phone starts ringing, again, so he checks and sees that Jinyoung is calling him. He straightens his back nervously. This is the first time that Jinyoung’s ever called him- all they’ve done is texted. “Hi,” he says after picking up the call. He’s sure his hand is shaking.

“Hey Jaebeom. How are the boys doing?” 

“Oh, they’re great today. Very well-behaved. I don’t know if it’s on purpose,” he says with a laugh.

Felix walks away with his plate and Jeongin motions to Jaebeom to scoot closer. “What can I get you today?” Jeongin asks in a perfect customer service voice.

“Uhh, can I get spaghetti and a baguette and a glass of water?”

Jinyoung’s laughter comes cleanly through the call. “Did you take them to a restaurant?”

“Nah, they’re cooking for me with the plastic kids’ food,” he explains. “It’s very entertaining. We’ve already had a few workplace injuries. Did you know that Hyunjin knows how to treat a burn?”

“Ohh, he does? That’s impressive.”

“I’m a proud dad,” Jaebeom confirms, and he can sees Hyunjin’s little smile even though he’s turned in a different direction. 

“You should be,” Jinyoung responds honestly. “Are Felix and Jisung having fun?”

Jaebeom glances to the side. “Considering Felix is pretending to vomit of food poisoning, I would say so.” (He has a bad feeling he learned this from seeing Hyunjin fake food poisoning at their last visit to the Wang house.)

Jinyoung’s laugh, Jaebeom decides, is a very precious sound. It makes his heart a little lighter each time he hears it. “You sound like you’re having fun. I was just calling to see how it was going and I’m glad they’re all behaving for you. I’ll talk to you later, okay? Say hi to Hyunjin for me.”

“Will do. Bye Jinyoung.” 

“I am going to rate your restaurant one star on Yelp!” Felix threatens, causing Jaebeom to burst out into more laughter. He wonders what kinds of things Jackson talks about at home that _this_ is what Felix’s vocabulary is like.

“Mr. Park said hi and he also wants to compliment your burn treatment procedure,” Jaebeom says to Hyunjin.

He beams. “Chefs need to know how to keep people from getting hurt!”

“That’s right.”

At that moment, there’s a knock at the door. Jaebeom glances over his shoulder at the clock and sees that it’s ten minutes after 6pm, so it should be Jackson or Mark, or both.

“You can go get the door, Hyunjin. It’s their parents,” he says. There’s a chorus of groaning from the kids and Hyunjin across the room to the door.

“Hi Hyunjin!” Jackson greets loudly, stepping inside, followed by a smiling Mark. “I see the twins haven’t burned the place down.”

“They were all very angelic today,” Jaebeom reports as he grins. “I would babysit them again if needed.”

Mark pulls Jeongin up into a hug. “Did you miss me?”

“I wanna stay with Hyunjin,” Jeongin pouts, and Felix and Jisung agree, the group of them looking like kicked puppies.

“You can visit him again another time. Maybe next time he can come to our house so we can give Jaebeom a break,” Jackson suggests brightly, and they reluctantly agree. He grabs his boys’ hands after they finish getting their coats and backpacks on. “Did you guys do your homework?”

Guiltily, they shake their heads, but Jackson doesn’t scold them. “You’ll just have to finish it right when we get home, okay?”

Judging by the look on Mark’s face, he’s very much in love with Jackson’s gentle parenting style. Jackson might be a little more of an energetic, outgoing father but they’re both far from strict parents, and they match each other very well.

“Let’s go, then. Say goodbye to Jaebeom and Hyunjin,” Jackson says, and all three of them do so, giving Hyunjin hugs and waving goodbye to him. 

Admittedly, he’s a little sad for the babysitting to be over because Jaebeom is quite proud of himself for managing this long, and Hyunjin was having a lot of fun. But there will be other times, especially considering their dads are best friends so it won’t be hard to get a hold of each other. 

He’s left thinking about Jinyoung’s phone call, and really, that’s the only thing he can think about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading this far!
> 
> I haven't been able to decide, but there's a lot of epilogue content I have written and I'd either add a few epilogue chapters at the end (to make 9 chapters total) or create a new work that is just the epilogue content, which would make the next chapter the last one (for 6 total chapters). The epilogue isn't really relevant to the plot, so that's why I'm having a hard time deciding lol. If you have any opinion on this, please leave a comment and let me know.
> 
> Also, I have a new idea and I don't know if it'll work, but follow [this link](https://forms.gle/7qaZbp7qq5wLGJp87) to access a Google Form to give me feedback on the plot of a new fic!


	6. six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyunjin comes down with a fever + Jaebeom volunteers at the school's field day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter of the story! The rest of the chapters in this work will be epilogue chapters :)

Jaebeom slides his phone back into his pocket as he replaces Hyunjin’s blanket with a thinner one.

“I’m cold,” he whines in response.

“I don’t want you to overheat,” Jaebeom tells him, giving him a kiss on his rather warm forehead. 

This morning, Hyunjin woke him up to tell him he wasn’t feeling well. Turns out, his temperature was extremely high. Not high enough to warrant going to the hospital, but still very high. Jaebeom is now panicking because it’s a Saturday morning and he has to take a weekend shift and there is no way he’s going to be able to get out of it but he can’t just leave his son home alone like this, with how sick he is.

He’s called Mark and Jackson already but neither of them are available and now he has no idea what to do. He sits on Hyunjin’s bedside and worriedly combs his damp hair out of his face. 

“I’m going to get you some water, okay? You have to drink lots of water when you have a fever,” Jaebeom says as he stands. He releases a bit of his nervous energy by going to the kitchen to fill a plastic cup with water.

He thinks about his options as he stands in front of the sink. He doesn’t know his neighbors well enough to trust them with Hyunjin. His parents have been absent from his life ever since Hyunjin’s birth so they definitely aren’t an option.

Jaebeom desperately tries to think of someone else in his life who he might be able to call. It takes him a few moments, until his mind finds one person he hadn’t thought of yet. Jinyoung.

Would that be weird? To call your son’s teacher and ask if he can look after your sick child while you’re at work? 

Jaebeom doesn’t think about that part too much, because he’s really running out of options. Nervously, he calls Jinyoung, hoping he’s awake at 7:30 in the morning (teachers have to be morning people, right?).

“Jaebeom, hi… is something wrong? It’s early, isn’t it?”

“Did I wake you up?” Jaebeom worries.

“No, you’re good. I’m eating breakfast. But why are you calling?”

“Hyunjin’s got a really bad fever and I have work in an hour and there’s no one available to watch him… I know it might not be my place to ask, and I hate to inconvenience y-”

Jinyoung interrupts him quickly. “I’ll come watch him.”

“Wait, really? Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I’ll finish eating and I’ll be right over. Text me your address, okay?” Jinyoung says, his voice so calm and so soothing and Jaebeom might actually cry. 

“I will. Thank you so much, Jinyoung, you’re a lifesaver,” he gushes, walking back to Hyunjin’s room to update him.

“It’s no problem, Jaebeom, really. I’ll be over soon.” He hangs up, and Jaebeom is left pressing his phone to his chest, so damn thankful that Jinyoung is as kind as he is.

Hyunjin looks up when Jaebeom enters the room. “Do you have to go to work now?” he asks in a tiny voice.

“I’m not leaving you home alone. I called Mr. Park and he’ll be coming to watch over you for the day,” Jaebeom tells him, watching the way his smile grows on his face.

“Really? Mr. Park’s coming to our house?” Hyunjin asks in disbelief.

Now that he thinks about it, yes, Jinyoung is coming to the apartment. Much to his relief, he had cleaned the house a couple days ago so nothing is as unorganized as it normally would be. “Yup. But don’t get too excited, because you still have to rest,” he reminds him. “Jiny- Mr. Park will be taking your temperature every now and then and making sure you eat and get fluids.” He runs through his mental list of “what to do when my child is running a fever” but he figures he’ll remember everything at some point, and he’ll be able to text Jinyoung throughout the day if he forgot something. 

Jaebeom finishes getting ready for work when a knock comes at the front door. He runs to get it, revealing Jinyoung, dressed in sweatpants and a hoodie (a change of pace that stuns Jaebeom, although he figures teachers will not be dressed in teacher clothes on the weekends, especially in the morning), with a backpack slung over his shoulder. He smiles brightly despite it being so early in the morning.

“Thank you, Jinyoung, god,” he says as he lets Jinyoung in the house. “I can’t thank you enough-”

“You don’t have to. It’s okay. Really,” Jinyoung assures him, walking in. “You have to go to work soon, don’t you? Hurry and go; don’t let me keep you here.”

Jaebeom nods, his sanity slowly slipping away. “Just, Hyunjin’s room is at the end of the hall. Take his temperature every two hours and text me and let me know what it is. Make sure he’s drinking water. We have soup in the cupboard that you can make for him, and you can eat anything you want as well. If his temperature gets too high, take him to the hospital and call me.”

Jinyoung looks at him attentively, but he seems to know that Jaebeom’s just having some fatherly anxiety. “I’ll keep you updated,” he promises. “Try not to stress too much, okay? I know how to take care of kids, even sick ones.”

That reminder calms him down. “Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” His final phone alarm rings, signaling him to leave for work. He quickly silences it and shoves it in his pocket, grabbing his coat and bag. “I’ll be back around 4,” he calls out as he rushes out of the apartment. 

Sitting at his computer at work makes his mind go crazy with thoughts. 

Hyunjin’s never really prone to getting sick. He’s had your basic colds and he had the stomach flu once when he was in preschool, and a mild fever or two. But never as sick as he’d seen this morning. Jaebeom presses his face into his hands and hopes that he doesn’t start throwing up or anything. 

He hopes that Jinyoung’s comfortable in the house as well. This is his first time in their apartment and Jaebeom had to leave a minute after he arrived. He hadn’t gotten to show him any of the rooms, or- 

Jaebeom jerks up, grabbing for his phone. _The cat._ He fucking forgot to tell Jinyoung about Nora. Hyunjin might’ve told him, or hell, Jaebeom might’ve told him at some point, but he can’t remember if he did and he feels like that’s something their guest needs to know. Maybe he’s allergic.

He writes out the following text: “Jinyoung I’m so sorry I forgot to tell you we have a cat. Her name is Nora. You don’t have to feed her or anything because I fed her this morning. She also doesn’t like strangers that much and you might not see her at all.”

Jaebeom hopes, perhaps selfishly, that Jinyoung is not allergic to cats.

He receives Jinyoung’s response a minute later: “Oh, she doesn’t like strangers?”

“No, she’ll run away from people when they come in the house and hide.”

“That’s strange, because she walked right up to me.” Attached is a photo of Jinyoung’s lap with Nora sitting right beside him as Jinyoung’s free hand pets her head. 

So Jinyoung is great with kids _and_ cats. Figures, he just had to be perfect.

“Damn, Jinyoung, I guess she likes you.”

He sends back a happy, blushing smiling face emoji. Then, “Also, Hyunjin’s fever is at the same temperature and I gave him a new glass of water.”

_At least it’s not rising,_ Jaebeom thinks.

He convinces himself that he can leave Hyunjin in Jinyoung’s hands and focus on getting work done, so that’s what he does, but he’s only mildly successful, because he ends up checking his phone every once in a while to see Jinyoung’s updates. He tells him that his fever is slowly going down and that he made him soup for lunch and he ate most of it. 

Jaebeom remembers how energetic and lively Hyunjin had been on his birthday a couple weeks ago and he hopes he feels better soon because he can’t stand to see his son tired and sickly. He’s glad that, according to Jinyoung, he’s improving.

His workday goes by so, so slowly, especially since it’s a Saturday and ideally he should be at home taking care of Hyunjin himself. 

So as soon as his shift ends, he texts Jinyoung to let him know that he’s coming back and then he books it out of the place to his car.

Jaebeom lets out a sigh of relief when he walks into his house after unlocking the door. _Finally._ He sets his bag down and walks into the living room, about to go find Jinyoung. But Jinyoung is sitting up on the couch with his eyes closed, having fallen asleep. Hyunjin’s resting his head against Jinyoung’s shoulder, also asleep, with a stray popsicle wrapper and stick in his lap (Jaebeom doesn’t know where he could’ve gotten that). Even Nora’s sleeping, peacefully curled up on Jinyoung’s lap, as the TV drones on at a low volume in the background.

The sight makes Jaebeom’s heart flip.

“Jinyoung?” he says quietly, trying not to startle him.

He blinks his eyes slowly, one hand coming up to rub at it. “Did I fall asleep? I’m sorry-”

“It’s okay,” Jaebeom assures him as he gently nudges Hyunjin awake. He feels his forehead with the back of his hand. “Feeling better?”

Hyunjin nods earnestly, even though he looks a little tired still. Probably from waking up seconds earlier.

“We were watching one of his TV shows when we fell asleep,” Jinyoung explains, laughing a little as he pets Nora who is still, somehow, fast asleep.

“Mr. Park also let me play video games on his laptop! And he made me soup and gave me a popsicle!” Hyunjin describes to his father with his big smile.

Jaebeom glances at Jinyoung with a grin. “A popsicle, huh?”

“I had extra at my house so I thought I’d bring one for him, to cool down,” Jinyoung says in the tone of an expert. “His fever is going down, so I think he’s doing better.”

Jaebeom gives him a warm smile. “Thanks for taking care of him, even though I’m sure there’s other things you’d do on a Saturday,” he tells him honestly.

“Stop trying to apologize. I wanted to take care of Hyunjin,” Jinyoung says firmly, giving Jaebeom a challenging smile before picking Nora up and placing her to the side without waking her. He turns to Hyunjin and brushes his hair out of his face. “Feel better soon, okay? I’ll see you on Monday.”

Hyunjin nods before leaning forward and hugging him. “Goodbye Mr. Park.” 

He hugs him back, smiling. “Bye, Hyunjin.”

Jinyoung puts his stuff away in his backpack and Jaebeom follows him to the kitchen to see him out. But he turns. “Jaebeom, you know I adore Hyunjin. If there’s ever an emergency, don’t be afraid to ask me, okay?”

“Okay.” Jaebeom can’t help but smile. “Drive safely.”

As he leaves, his mind thinks nothing but _Jinyoung, Jinyoung, Jinyoung._

Jaebeom manages to get time off for the next school event, which is the field day held in April. It’s not necessarily a “bring your parents” day since it’s during the school day, but Jackson convinced him to volunteer so he wouldn’t be there alone. 

That’s how he ends up in the front office with Bambam and Jackson, hurrying to finish making the rest of the colored bracelets for the kids to wear during the day. Kindergarteners are blue, first graders are purple, second graders are green, and so on. 

“I got Yugyeom’s number,” Bambam boasts as he tosses aside another finished bracelet.

Jackson glances up from his very serious work. “That’s cute. Except maybe you should lay off the flirting before you get fired.”

“Apparently as the office secretary, I’m a very necessary worker. I’m involved in every damn thing the school does for absolutely no reason at all,” he complains.

Yugyeom appears in the doorway at that moment. “Jinyoung sent me to get the parents and the bracelets. Field day starts in eight minutes.”

Thus, they leave Bambam, much to his whining, and bring the box of purple bracelets back to the room.

The kids are all very energetic today, chatting eagerly about the games planned for the day. Jinyoung’s standing near his desk, wearing a more casual outfit than the typical teacher attire- a white t-shirt and jeans. Jaebeom really can’t help but admire him for a couple more seconds than necessary.

“Your crush is showing,” Jackson teases in Jaebeom’s ear. 

He elbows him in the gut in retaliation but he doesn’t deny it either. Jinyoung’s so pretty today; it can’t be helped.

Jackson starts handing out the bracelets to the kids while Jaebeom grabs one out of the box and walks over to Jinyoung. He takes his hand and ties the bracelet gently around his wrist. Glancing up, he notices Jinyoung _blushing?_ He hardly believes it and he’s convinced it’s just a trick of the light.

As a parent volunteer, his duties are all the extra tasks in between. He and Jackson sit out a picnic table sorting out popsicles by flavor while the kids are playing a soccer game out on the field coached by Yugyeom who is apparently very passionate about soccer, while Jinyoung keeps score on a little notepad (the class with the most points gets some kind of prize).

Then, they have to set up the props for the next few games. Despite being an athletic guy, Jackson makes a show of being tired while carrying traffic cones to his twins and Jeongin who are hovering around despite the other kids being gathered a short ways away eating their popsicles.

Jisung and Jeongin decide to team up and help carry some of the cones while Felix follows them around with his popsicle. They’re almost done when Jinyoung yells out jokingly, “Hey! Stop using them for labor!” and the kids immediately drop whatever they’re doing to rejoin the others.

“They’re energetic today,” Jackson reflects, affectionate, as he places the last two cones. “Wish Mark could’ve come today but unfortunately he’s a teacher so he’s not going to be able to take a day off that easily.”

“Miss your boyfriend already?” Jaebeom teases. “It’s been what, a day since you’ve last seen him?”

“We didn’t get to video call last night because Jeongin was up late doing homework for gym class. Because apparently they’ve started assigning homework for gym class, which is complete bullshit. Maybe I’ll speak to Jinyoung so he can sort it out.”

“Jinyoung doesn’t teach gym though.”

Jackson gives him a pointed look. “Yes, but he’s practically the principal of the school, so surely he has some influence. I’ll convince him.”

“Whatever you say,” Jaebeom responds in amusement as he follows him off the field.

Now, as the kids start the next game, Jaebeom and Jackson sit off to the side on a bench to eat their lunch. It’s quality entertainment, whatever this game is supposed to be. Jaebeom’s content to eating his sandwich as he watches Hyunjin run around the cones happily.

“Sometimes this is what being a dad is about,” Jackson says in between bites of food. “Sitting back and watching your kids be happy and cute and knowing that you helped them get there. It’s all worth it, in times like this.”

Jaebeom raises an eyebrow. “Someone’s lovey today.”

“I can’t help it, Jaebeom,” Jackson whines. “Sometimes I just feel like maybe one of my sisters would’ve been a better parent to the kids, but then I have moments like these where the kids are so damn happy and it’s all cleared away.”

He smiles back at Jackson. “Felix and Jisung love you a lot, you know. They wouldn’t want anyone else but you.”

“Don’t make me cry!” he protests, shoving Jaebeom’s shoulder. “Today is _field day._ There is no crying allowed on field day.”

Quite ironically, two seconds later Jaebeom hears the sound of crying out on the field. Dad alarms going off in his head, he squints and sees Hyunjin in the grass, clutching his knee with tears in his eyes.

_Fuck,_ he thinks as he shoves his sandwich into Jackson’s hands and starts running over to him. Frankly he’s had enough of Hyunjin being sick and injured and he wishes he could give Hyunjin a perfect immune system and wrap him up in bubble wrap 24/7. Unfortunately for Jaebeom and dads everywhere, that’s impossible.

He’s nearly to Hyunjin’s side when his foot lands in an odd way on an uneven part of the dirt and his next step is extremely painful. He collapses to his knees, trying to repress his cursing around the children (meanwhile, he can hear Jackson laughing like a madman because this imagery must be _very_ comical).

Jinyoung, who had been tending to Hyunjin, glances over in surprised alarm. To Yugyeom, he says, “Go check on Jaebeom.”

Yugyeom hauls himself to his feet and goes to look at Jaebeom’s offending ankle. His expression says he’s less than thrilled. “Well. It already looks swollen, so you probably sprained it.”

“What about Hyunjin?” he calls out to Jinyoung. Sprained ankle or not, he’s more concerned about his son’s well-being, especially if he needs to go take his kid to the hospital in five seconds.

“He just scraped his knee and it hurts,” Jinyoung assures him. He gives Hyunjin a pat on the head before walking over to Jaebeom and grabbing his hand. “Come on, let’s go get you sitting down. Yugyeom, support him on the other side.”

With his arms wrapped around Jinyoung and Yugyeom’s shoulders, a significant portion of pain is kept at bay. Even Jackson comes over to help, pushing one of the picnic tables in the shade under a tree so Jaebeom can sit.

Hyunjin comes over to check on his father, inspecting his ankle like he’s some kind of six year old medical professional. Jaebeom laughs a bit as he watches him.

“I’ll bring Nora to you when we go home and she can make you feel better,” Hyunjin announces his treatment plan with a grin.

“Sounds good,” Jaebeom approves. He notices Hyunjin now has a bright blue bandage on his knee, and his worries about his minor injury are put to rest.

He smiles just watching Hyunjin run away to join the others again.

Ten minutes later, Jackson leaves him beneath the tree to go help Bambam with something, or maybe his reason is to be in a room with air conditioning. Jaebeom can’t blame him.

He’s nearly dozed off thinking about Hyunjin and how grateful he is that the little boy is happy and as a father, he managed to get him there. Out of the corner of his eye, he notices someone sitting down across from him. All it takes is a quick glance to see that it’s Jinyoung, giving him a shy smile.

“Jackson abandon you, huh?” he asks conversationally, taking a sip from a juice box he had brought.

“Yup. He’s inside ‘helping’ Bambam.”

Jinyoung laughs, and the sound twists Jaebeom’s heart a little. He’s really ethereal today. He’s beneath the dappled sunlight that comes in through the leaves. When he looks at Jaebeom, his eyes are practically sparkling. _Too pretty._

“You’re a good dad, you know,” he says out of the blue. “I don’t think you give yourself enough credit sometimes.”

“Hm?” Jaebeom notices the slight redness to Jinyoung’s face, and he can feel his own blushing too. It’s like Jinyoung can read his mind and knows that he’s been thinking about how far he’s come as a parent.

“Yes, you’re an amazing father to Hyunjin. But also, you’re a sweet guy and I always notice how delicately you treat everything in your life, like it’s so precious to you. You’re so thoughtful and gentle and handsome and I don’t know how a guy carries on with a personality and face like yours-” He cuts himself off, whispering, “I’m rambling.”

Jinyoung takes Jaebeom’s hands in his and leans across the table and kisses him. 

Meanwhile, Jaebeom has become deceased and come back to life in seconds, his hands gripping onto Jinyoung’s so tightly as he kisses Jinyoung back, unable to comprehend if this is real life or some fantasy and he’ll wake up from it in seconds. 

Kissing Jinyoung is, not to be dramatic, the most heartracing thing Jaebeom has ever experienced.

And when Jinyoung pulls away slowly, his cheeks dusted pink, Jaebeom’s mind malfunctions and he blurts out, “Date me.” And seconds later when he realizes that seems too forward and commanding, “Please.”

Jinyoung laughs and the whiskers appear near his eyes. “Okay. We can go out this weekend, sound good? I’m sure we could convince Jackson or Mark to babysit.”

_Is this actually happening? Maybe I’m losing my mind_ , Jaebeom thinks weakly, as he manages, “Sounds good.” His dazed brain makes his heart pound when he realizes Jinyoung is still holding his hand. 

Jinyoung’s still got that sparkle in his eye. “Your crush is showing,” he says, in the exact same tone as Jackson had said to Jaebeom that morning. 

He wants to scream of pure embarrassment. Having a child has resulted in many embarrassing moments, but this one takes the cake. “You heard that?” Jaebeom mumbles, wanting to pass on.

Jinyoung nods, grinning. “Yeah, I did. I really wasn’t sure how you felt about me until then, but when I heard that… I thought I should say something.”

“God, maybe I’ll have to thank Jackson later,” he jokes.

Jaebeom really shouldn’t have spoken, because in the next second, Jackson has appeared with Hyunjin following right after him like a duckling. 

“Is it true?” Jackson yells out.

“Is what true?” Jaebeom presses. He has no idea what he could possibly be talking about this time.

Jackson grins, putting a hand on Hyunjin’s shoulder. “Hyunjin here came up to me after I was done helping out Bambam. I had just come back outside and he runs up to me and says, ‘I saw Daddy kissing Mr. Park.’”

Jaebeom wants to decompose into the ground.

“And so I, eager for gossip, ask him where, and he tells me at the picnic table. Then he tugs on my sleeve and asks, with the cutest little smile, if that means that Mr. Park is his father’s boyfriend now.” He looks for Jaebeom to Jinyoung and back again. “Is it true?” he demands, the hunger to be able to make fun of Jaebeom very clear in his eyes.

Jinyoung stands up from the picnic table. “Yeah, and you’re babysitting this weekend when we go on our date.” He takes Hyunjin’s hand and leads him back to the group of students. “Mr. Kim is starting the next game, so let’s go get ready.”

Which leaves Jackson, staring in awe at Jaebeom. “Damn, you finally asked him out?”

“I mean, yeah, but he confessed first and he was the one to kiss me,” Jaebeom says, still blushy and dazed.

“That’s really cute, a confession and kiss under a tree on a sunny day. Meanwhile, Mark and I confessed in the hallway at parent-teacher conferences. I’m not salty at all,” Jackson mutters. “And what’s this about me babysitting?”

“It’s true. Mark once informed me that the ‘Tuan-Wang Babysitting Services’ will always be available.”

Jackson rolls his eyes, even though he looks slightly endeared. “Of course.”

“I really should be thanking you right now but I’m mostly embarrassed that my son saw me kissing someone,” Jaebeom says with a sigh. 

“Why are you thanking me?”

“Because the _whole reason_ Jinyoung confessed today was because he heard you _teasing me_ and saying ‘your crush is showing!’”

Jackson immediately puffs out his chest. “So I’m responsible for your relationship. One could say I’m a matchmaker.”

“Shut up.”

“You know, I could’ve just told Jinyoung that you liked him months ago and you two could’ve dated sooner,” Jackson deadpans. 

Jaebeom raises an eyebrow. “I would’ve killed you. Thanked you, but then killed you.”

He comes over and drags Jaebeom by the elbow. “Come on, let’s go continue our volunteer duties. You getting a boyfriend is no excuse.” (Jaebeom doubts his ankle is sprained at all because he experiences only mild pain after Jinyoung’s kiss. He’s convinced he healed him).

The rest of the day Jaebeom still feels so light-headed, especially whenever Jinyoung looks at him or talks to him. His face is probably red 24/7 and his balance is majorly thrown off but Jinyoung is probably enjoying the effect he has on him.

So much so that at the end of the day, after saying goodbye, Jaebeom nearly trips on his way out of the classroom and Hyunjin laughs at him (while also asking him if he’s okay).

As soon as they get in the car on the drive home, Hyunjin asks, in his cheery voice, “Do you like Mr. Park?”

Jaebeom isn’t that surprised to hear him asking that after discovering that Hyunjin had witnessed the kiss earlier. “Yes, I like him a lot.”

“Is he your boyfriend?”

They hadn’t really discussed the technicalities of the relationship, but he doesn’t want to confuse Hyunjin with stuff like that. “He is.” He glances into the rearview mirror. “You’re not mad?”

Hyunjin shakes his head. “Nope! Mr. Park is my favorite teacher and I like him.”

He’s relieved, that Hyunjin doesn’t feel left out of the loop or anything.

“You should marry him,” Hyunjin says next.

Jaebeom chokes, nearly slamming on the brakes. “We’ll see,” he manages to get out after a few seconds of recovery. Bless Hyunjin’s little heart that thinks that marriage is a suitable topic to discuss so soon.

Nonetheless, he’s very grateful Hyunjin approves of his relationship. Which he can still hardly comprehend, especially when he gets a text from Jinyoung later about date details (he has a cute cafe in mind) and his heart rate, embarrassingly, skyrockets. 

He’s more than ready for this new part of his life, and he thinks Hyunjin is, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment and let me know what you think!! 
> 
> \+ I'll try to update the epilogue parts as quickly as possible but they're rather long so I have a lot of editing to do lol.


	7. epilogue one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaebeom meets the parents + Hyunjin has his first sleepover.

Dates with Jinyoung come to be the most comforting part of Jaebeom’s week. There’s something about Jinyoung’s aura that relaxes him (and makes him nervous at the same time). Before every date he always gets nervous and his heart pounds but as soon as he sees Jinyoung his heart pounds for a different reason.

Their first date had been at a cat cafe. Originally, Jinyoung told him they’d go get coffee and that he had a cafe in mind but Jaebeom was not prepared to have his heart melted by Jinyoung interacting with cats. One of them had fallen asleep on his lap while they drank their coffee and Jaebeom was beyond jealous since the cats were ignoring him unless Jinyoung was there (Jaebeom figured they smelled Nora on his clothes and didn’t want to be around him).

Jaebeom had only been on a few first dates in his life and those had all been when he was a teenager, so he would crown Cat Cafe Date as his best first date, ever. He had been a mess when he had gotten home- he felt like a teenager again, texting Jinyoung and blushing. 

Jackson and Mark both tease him about it whenever he comes by to drop Hyunjin off pre-date. 

Dates with Jinyoung take place mostly on weekends and never for too long because they both know that Hyunjin’s going to want his father back eventually. But it always has Jaebeom asking about another date by the end, so that’s a plus.

They’ve been dating two months when Jinyoung convinces Jaebeom to meet his parents. Initially, he’d been reluctant, because naturally Jaebeom’s afraid his parents will have something against their son dating a guy who has a kid. But Jinyoung reassures him that will not at all be the case and that he has a feeling his parents will really like him.

Standing on Jinyoung’s parents’ porch, waiting for them to answer the door, is the most nerve-wracking thing. Jinyoung squeezes Jaebeom’s left hand and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek for encouragement. “They’ll love you, Jaebeom. It’s impossible for them not to,” he whispers.

He doesn’t want to doubt him, so he takes it to heart. 

In his other hand is Hyunjin’s hand, who seems a little shy but relatively unphased. Hyunjin’s always been an outspoken kid so Jaebeom doubts this will be hard for him.

The door opens and the woman on the other side engulfs Jinyoung in a hug. “Hello love, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you last. It’s finally summer vacation soon, huh?” She pulls away, smiling, before looking to Jaebeom and Hyunjin. “Ohh, are these our guests?”

Jinyoung leads them both into the house, nodding. “Yes. Mom, this is Jaebeom and Hyunjin.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Jaebeom says quickly, his voice nearly cracking from how nervous he is.

He’s taken by surprise when Jinyoung’s mom hugs him too. “Ah, so it’s _the_ Jaebeom. I’ve heard lots of wonderful things about you. You’re the hot dad~”

“Mom!” Jinyoung hisses, mildly embarrassed, but Jaebeom just laughs. He’s honored to be known as the ‘hot dad’ in Jinyoung’s conversations with his mother.

In walks Jinyoung’s father at that moment. “The boyfriend’s here?”

“Yes, Dad, it’s Jaebeom and Hyunjin,” Jinyoung reintroduces, a little exasperated. “Maybe if you came to greet them thirty seconds ago, you’d know.”

“I was getting a drink! Can’t your father simply rehydrate himself?” he jokes, before going over to Jaebeom for a handshake. “I’m Jinyoung’s father, if you haven’t guessed. Make yourself at home, dinner will be ready in five minutes.”

Meanwhile, his mother squats down, cooing, at Hyunjin, as if he’s an infant. “Is this Hyunjin?” she gushes. “How old are you?”

“I’m six!” Hyunjin says proudly. “I’m in first grade and I’m going to be in second grade in fall.”

“Ahh, yes, Jinyoung teaches you, doesn’t he? Is he a good teacher?”

He nods, enthusiastic. “He gave us all popsicles on field day! Plus he knows a lot about frogs so he’s cool.”

His mother laughs heartily. “He sounds like a very wonderful teacher. I expect nothing less from my son.” She stands up again. “Speaking of frogs, I’m pretty sure we have a few biology books in the basement from when your father was teaching, Jinyoung. Maybe you could get those out and give them to him when we’re finished eating.”

“Oh, you really don’t have to!” Jaebeom says hurriedly, waving his hand.

“We’re not using them, anyway. You’ll take them; Jinyoung will get them out for you,” she says decisively, resulting in a huge, excited grin on Hyunjin’s face. She follows his father into the kitchen as they finish up the last dinner preparations.

Jinyoung glances at Jaebeom knowingly, as if saying, _See? They love you._

And this feeling is strange to Jaebeom. But he embraces it, as he walks into their dining room for dinner.

They provide Hyunjin with a little booster seat since their chairs are big. He looks so calm sitting in the chair with the rest of the adults. Jinyoung’s parents ask him plenty of the most interesting child-friendly questions and Hyunjin indulges them on each of them, discussing his favorite subjects in school and his favorite books. Honestly, Jaebeom had been a bit worried that Hyunjin would get really shy considering he’d never had grandparents of his own so interacting with someone that age that isn’t a teacher or a neighbor or a dentist might be strange to him. But no, he has a lot of fun with the conversation, but Jaebeom should’ve expected that. Hyunjin’s a wonderful conversationalist.

In fact, Hyunjin is getting asked more questions than Jaebeom and he thought _he’d_ be the one getting put on the spot today.

“I’m going to be on the soccer team when school starts! Daddy said it would help me get lots of exercise,” he says seriously.

“He’s right. Your dad seems very smart,” his father says, his gaze shifting to Jaebeom. “How old are you, Jaebeom?”

“Twenty-six.”

His mother smiles affectionately. “Ah, same age as our Jinyoungie.”

Jinyoung rolls his eyes. “Would you disapprove of him if he weren’t?”

“No, I just find it cute,” she says defensively. “You’ve both have had the same life milestones. More or less.”

Jinyoung’s father changes the subject, clearing his throat. “So what are your parents like, Jaebeom? They must be proud of having a son who has raised such a nice child.”

“Uh, not really,” he responds, laughing nervously. “My parents haven’t spoken to me since I told them that my girlfriend had gotten pregnant. Hyunjin’s never met them.”

His mother frowns, looking very passionate about her anger. “A parent should never behave like that. I’m sorry. I’m sure you could’ve used some parental love when you were raising Hyunjin in the early years.”

“I was young so I recovered quickly. I focused on Hyunjin because at that point, he was the only thing that mattered to me and he was the most important thing in my life,” he describes, squeezing his son’s hand while he eats with his fork in the other one.

He notices Jinyoung looking at him with a very soft expression on his face. Jaebeom catches his gaze and Jinyoung winks at him. _He’s flirting with me in front of his parents, wow, of course Park Jinyoung is pulling this._

“What happened with your girlfriend, if you don’t mind me asking?” his mother says, interrupting Jaebeom from his silent flirtation with Jinyoung.

“Ah, she decided she didn’t want a part of Hyunjin’s life and walked out when he was a couple months old. I guess it was a good thing, though, because now I know I don’t like girls.”

His father laughs. “And now you’ve got Jinyoung. So all is well.”

“Yeah, things are better now,” he agrees, looking back at his loving boyfriend who continues to stare at him with those sparkling eyes. He tries to communicate, silently, that his parents might notice him looking at him like that but his efforts are fruitless.

“I’d ask questions like, ‘where was your first date’ but Jinyoung’s already told me that,” his mother says in amusement. “I hear you have a lovely cat.”

“Yes! Her name is Nora and I got her when Hyunjin turned two, so she’s been around his entire life. They’re best friends,” Jaebeom says affectionately. “She takes naps with him every day while he does his homework. She also really likes Jinyoung even though she’s very stranger-cautious. She went right up to him when they met for the first time.”

She waves her hand knowingly. “Animals love Jinyoung, so I am not surprised. When he was young I found him in the yard with a chipmunk sitting in the palm of his hands. _A chipmunk!_ His sister ended up screaming when she saw it and it ran away. Jinyoung cried.”

“That’s adorable.” Jaebeom lets out a laugh at the image of a child Jinyoung crying over an escaped wild animal.

“If you had a chipmunk in your hands and someone scared it away, I’m sure you’d be upset too,” Jinyoung teases. “I’m pretty sure I also caught a bird at some point. ‘Caught’ as in it flew into my hands.”

“Yes, and then you brought it into the house so that you could keep it as a pet and it flew into your sister’s room and scared her again,” his father reminds him, snorting.

“Jinyoung’s sisters all have kids,” his mother tells Jaebeom. “He’s very good with all of them; he’s a natural with kids.” Her tone is boasting as she ensures that Jaebeom understands.

Jaebeom smiles. “Yes, he is, I’ve noticed.” _It totally wasn’t one of the reasons Jaebeom fell for him._

“Speaking of kids,” Jinyoung says suddenly, “I’m going to get Hyunjin’s frog books from the basement. Jaebeom, come with me and see if Hyunjin will like them.” He grabs Jaebeom’s wrist and pulls him out of the chair and the room. 

He leads him down the stairs to their finished basement and doesn’t even turn on the light before he’s kissing Jaebeom and pressing him against the wall. 

“Jinyoung!” he mumbles in the kiss, slightly surprised at the timing but loving the kiss nonetheless.

“Yes?” he says, his hands brushing against Jaebeom’s shoulders as he kisses him so hard Jaebeom can’t even answer.

After a few seconds, he has one brief moment of clarity. “Jinyoung, we cannot make out in your parent’s basement. They are right upstairs.”

He whines, his arms wrapped around Jaebeom’s neck, “You’re too pretty today. I can’t help it.”

“I’d love to do this any other time, just not right here,” he says with a laugh (Jinyoung’s touchiness is cute). “What if Hyunjin came down here? I don’t think I could live through him seeing us kissing again.”

Jinyoung freezes. “That’s true.” He breaks away from Jaebeom reluctantly, before wandering over to the bookcase of old books. “I do think Hyunjin will like these, though. They’re geared for middle schoolers, so I think they’ll last a while.” He kneels down and picks up a few, flipping through the pages and handing them to Jaebeom. “Hyunjin’s got a really high reading comprehension score, anyway, so I think he’d be good.”

Jaebeom chuckles. “Sometimes I think you know more about my son than I do.”

“Mm, it’s just the test scores.” He stands up, brushing dust off his knees. “Speaking of test scores…” He faces Jaebeom shyly. “I was going to wait to tell you this, as a surprise, but… I got moved up so I’m teaching second grade next year. And I’ve already got the class roster, and the name of someone you might know is on the list.”

“You’re teaching Hyunjin again?” Jaebeom exclaims happily. “God, that’s going to make his day. Seriously, you should tell him later.”

“I will.” He grins. “I’ll look forward to teaching my favorite kid again.”

It makes his heart do somersaults when Jinyoung acknowledges that Jaebeom’s son is adored by him. He’s so infinitely glad that Jinyoung and Hyunjin have such a close bond as student and teacher.

They head back upstairs with the books in hand, finding Jinyoung’s mother demonstrating to Hyunjin how knitting works. Hyunjin is very serious about this, watching as the needles move the yarn as if it holds the answers to the universe. Meanwhile, Jinyoung’s father watches the two with affection in his eyes.

“You already got out the knitting?” Jinyoung teases. “It’s only 7pm.”

She glances up, chuckling. “I’m old, Jinyoung. My bed time is much earlier than it used to be.”

Thus, Jinyoung suggests they break up the dinner so that his parents can rest. They insist on giving Jaebeom and Jinyoung leftovers of the meal, so Jinyoung and his father package the food up in the kitchen.

Meanwhile, his mother pulls Jaebeom aside with a warm, motherly smile on her face. “I really enjoyed meeting you today. Hyunjin is a very sweet child.” She laughs, squeezing Jaebeom’s shoulder. “I hope one day you can make him my grandson.”

Jaebeom doesn’t even have a chance to react because she’s disappeared into the kitchen within the next second. He takes a moment to reflect on how he’s been dating Jinyoung for two months and he’s already practically _got his parents’ blessing to marry him._

At least Jinyoung’s parents have already gotten attached to Hyunjin, so he doesn’t ever have to worry about that end of things.

It is acknowledged between Jackson, Mark, and Jaebeom that the last week of school has sparked a unique chaos within their children. Something about it has them doing a lot more stupid shit. Mark reports back in the group chat after Jeongin swallowed a key to the house, explanation unknown. Hyunjin is five times more hyper and Jackson’s twins nearly broke their legs jumping out of a tree (it basically gave Jackson a heart attack and Jaebeom was on the receiving end of the panicked phone call).

Jaebeom visits the classroom to pick Hyunjin up during the week to find Mark and Jackson waiting there, too. Hyunjin approaches him immediately, with those huge eyes that he makes when he wants something. “Daddy can I spend the night at Felix and Jisung’s house tonight?” he asks hopefully. “Jeongin will be there too.”

Shocked, Jaebeom’s eyes widen. Spend the night? Hyunjin had never slept over at someone else’s house before. Every single night since he was 20, he’d had Hyunjin nearby. 

“Don’t overthink it, Dad,” Jackson says, throwing an arm around his shoulders. “I know you’re protective of your kid, but you can trust me and Mark. We’ve got kids of our own, too.”

That’s true. At least Hyunjin is not asking to spend the night at some other kid’s house, whose parents Jaebeom doesn’t know. 

He supposes, also, that he’s at an age where it’s acceptable. He remembers sleeping over at his friend’s houses when he was just five years old, after all.

“I guess you can, Hyunjin,” Jaebeom says, brightly, so that his son can’t see the existential crisis he’s having on the inside.

“Yay! Thank you!” he hugs Jaebeom. “I promise I will use Jackson’s phone to call you.”

Jaebeom glances up at the parents. “Wait, _tonight?_ It’s a school night!”

Mark nods. “Yeah, and? It’s the last full week of school. Besides, tomorrow is a Friday so if he’s tired he won’t have another class day after that. Jackson and I can bring him to school with our kids in the morning, too.”

“I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this. My parents never let me do anything like this on a school night,” Jaebeom mumbles.

“This is elementary school, Jaebeom. It’s not like Hyunjin has an exam tomorrow,” Jackson points out. 

He takes a deep, steadying breath. “Yeah, okay.” He blinks. “Are you guys leaving now? I can go back home and get your toothbrush and pajamas and bring it to Jackson’s house.”

“That’ll be good,” Mark agrees. He gestures to the kids. “Come on, let’s get in the car.”

Watching Hyunjin walk away without him cracks Jaebeom’s heart a little. _Hyunjin’s getting old,_ he thinks morosely. _In seconds he’ll be graduating college._

He promises himself he won’t cry as he goes home to collect Hyunjin’s frog pajamas and purple toothbrush into a bag and goes to drop it off at Jackson’s house. 

It’ll be good for Hyunjin to get some independence and Jaebeom knows this. He calms himself by acknowledging that this will be a learning experience for Hyunjin, therefore it is necessary.

He doesn’t know what to do with himself that night as he’s home alone, eating dinner by himself. Sitting on the couch with Nora, watching some stupid television show. 

Jaebeom’s being so dramatic that he has to remind himself that he has other hobbies. But before he can stand up, his phone starts ringing. It’s from the contact, “Jinyoungie.”

“Hey Jinyoung,” he says, answering the call immediately.

“Hi Jaebeom! You’ll never guess what happened when I got home from work today. I walked into my apartment like normal but I could tell something was off when I saw a strange shape sitting on a blanket on my couch. I walked closer and I found that it had fur and was breathing. Jaebeom, it was a _cat_. She even purred and let me pet her!”

He grins. “Oh my god, you found a stray cat in your apartment? Does she have an owner?”

“Yes, she had a collar. I was going to mention it straight away so you wouldn’t have thoughts of adopting her. Turns out, she belonged to someone on the bottom floor of the apartment and had traveled up the elevator a few floors,” Jinyoung says, laughing. “Somehow, she got into my apartment. Maybe when I had left for work this morning…”

Jaebeom smiles uncontrollably. Of course Jinyoung knows about his love of cats. He’s talked to him about wanting another one but he holds himself back because he’s afraid Nora will be angry with him. He knows some cats don’t like to live with other animals. “You sound like you’ve had a very fun day,” he remarks. “Wish I could’ve been there.”

“What are you up to?”

“I’m about to go get out my painting stuff. I’ve got a lot of free time tonight… Hyunjin is having a sleepover with the Wang-Tuan kids and this is the first night he’s ever been away from me since he was born,” Jaebeom laments.

“Aw, really?” Jinyoung says sympathetically. “I’m sure he’ll be fine. Hyunjin has never appeared to be an over-attached kid.”

Jaebeom nods. “I know.” He sighs. “And without having to cook for him and help with homework, I’m suffering from boredom.”

There’s a pause, and that means Jinyoung’s thinking. “I’m free,” he says after a second. “Can I come over?”

He and Jinyoung are at the point in their relationship where Jinyoung can shamelessly invite himself over, and Jaebeom is absolutely okay with that. “Yeah, sure. Nora misses you.”

“Mm, I think you miss me more. I’ll be over in fifteen minutes.” He hangs up then, leaving Jaebeom flustered once more.

Despite their relationship not being that new, Jinyoung can and will fluster Jaebeom still. He doesn’t know how he does it. 

Jinyoung arrives with his backpack, which he sets aside and rummages through it.

“No hello?” Jaebeom jokes.

He pulls out a cat toy out of the bag and brandishes it in front of Nora, whose attention is piqued immediately. “I got Nora a toy. I know she liked the other one you had but she destroyed it so I got her a new one.” It’s a plastic fishing pole with feathers on the end of the string- Nora’s favorite kind, and of course Jinyoung would know that.

“You’re something else,” Jaebeom murmurs, watching fondly as Jinyoung plays with the cat on the living room floor.

After a few minutes of watching them play, he asks, “Did you come here to play with my cat or spend time with your boyfriend?” 

Jinyoung gets the hint and comes over and slides into the spot on the couch next to Jaebeom. His presence is warm. “I’m going to miss seeing you at the school when summer comes,” Jinyoung tells him. “Not everyone could regularly see their boyfriend at the job, so I guess I was lucky.”

“You can come over as often as you want,” Jaebeom reminds him as he puts his arm around his waist. “I already gave you a key.”

“Maybe I’ll have to.” Jinyoung swings his leg over so he’s sitting on Jaebeom’s lap, with his arms draped over his shoulders. “I don’t know why I waited so long to ask you out. I had the biggest crush on you since the beginning.” He leans forward and kisses Jaebeom.

“Me too. But you’ve got me now, don’t you? I’m yours,” Jaebeom murmurs against his lips.

When Jinyoung starts kissing his neck, Jaebeom chuckles. “Did you have some ulterior motives in coming here, Jinyoung?” he asks.

“Mm, maybe.”

See, Jinyoung is a very professional, sweet, caring man, but he’s also the biggest tease. Jaebeom discovered that when he started dating him, and that was just added to the list of reasons why Jaebeom adores Jinyoung so much.

He wakes up to sun streaming through the blinds, casting patterns of light onto Jinyoung’s sleeping face on the pillow beside him. It makes Jaebeom’s heart flip at the sight of it. This is definitely something he could get used to.

Jaebeom rubs his bleary eyes, reaching over to grab his phone off the nightstand. He has twenty texts from Jackson. One reads, “Where the hell is Jinyoung? I’m volunteering in class today and he’s not here?!”

He glances at the time. It’s 8:05AM. On a Friday.

_School started five minutes ago,_ he realizes suddenly.

Jaebeom reaches over and gently shakes Jinyoung’s shoulder with urgency. As he wakes up, he’s saying in a hushed voice, “Jinyoung, Jinyoung, it’s a Friday and there’s school and it’s 8:05-”

Jinyoung makes a squeaking noise that really doesn’t sound human. “Shit!” he yells as he’s scrambling out of bed. “I can’t believe I slept through school.”

On the other hand, Jaebeom still has a decent chance of getting to work on time. But Jinyoung’s urgency is his urgency, so he stumbles over to his closet to find clothes for Jinyoung to wear. “Do you need like, a button up shirt? My clothes are going to be big on you…”

“No, no, it’s Friday and staff are wearing casual clothes,” Jinyoung manages in his flurry.

“Okay, then pick anything you want. I’ll go find you a toothbrush.” 

Strangely, they have a good sense of teamwork even in this state of panic. Jaebeom tosses him an extra toothbrush on his way to the bathroom, and Jaebeom makes lunches for both Hyunjin and Jinyoung while he gets ready. 

“I can’t believe I didn’t set an alarm,” Jinyoung mumbles again as he leaves the bathroom. He’s wearing one of Jaebeom’s old hoodies from college, one with his last name printed on the back. 

“You look cute,” Jaebeom comments, and it relieves Jinyoung’s anxiety only slightly. 

In just minutes, both Jaebeom and Jinyoung are fully ready for work. Jinyoung reminds Jaebeom to lock the door on the way out, and Jaebeom thanks him. 

They part ways in the parking lot. Jaebeom hands Jinyoung Hyunjin’s lunch, and Jinyoung kisses him on the cheek. “Thanks for keeping me centered. Drive safely, Jaebeom.”

“You too. You’re going to have a great day,” Jaebeom reminds him encouragingly. He knows Jinyoung could use the boost of self-confidence.

“God, you’re the best.” He gives him another kiss before getting in the car and driving off. 

At work, Jaebeom receives a text from Jackson. “Jinyoung walked in late to class wearing a hoodie that says ‘Im’ on the back… he was at your house last night, wasn’t he?”

“Yes, we slept in too long.”

“Scandalous~~~”

“Oh, shut up.”

“When Jinyoung walked in Yugyeom was like, ‘Who’s Im?’ and Jinyoung was really shy for once. And then Yugyeom connected the dots and he practically squealed, ‘Hyunjin’s dad?!’ I laughed so hard,” Jackson writes back. 

Jaebeom is always amused by how curious the staff at the school are about “Jinyoung’s boyfriend” which has been his official title ever since they started texting. 

Oddly enough, Crescent Elementary has become such a familiar place for Jaebeom in the past year. Which is good, considering Hyunjin will be attending for the next four years. And Jaebeom hopes they go slowly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!! The next two chapters will have similar content lol.


	8. epilogue two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaebeom's relationship with Jinyoung progresses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! Here's the second part of the epilogue~ it's pure fluff

Roughly six months into his relationship with Jinyoung is when Jaebeom pops the question. Not the marriage question, but the will-you-move-in-with-me question. 

It was asked on their six month anniversary date when they just went out and wandered around in the city. They had gotten milkshakes and sat down in the park despite it being October and rather chilly. They used the opportunity to sit close together and Jinyoung has his head on Jaebeom’s shoulder.

Jaebeom had been thinking it over for a few weeks. Jinyoung had been complaining about landlord problems with his own apartment, so he might be happy to get out of there. And their relationship is a stable one. Over the months he’s found that he and Jinyoung just naturally balance each other out, so he doubts living together would be difficult at all.

So he says it, out of the blue, over strawberry milkshakes in a park in October. “Would you move in with me if I asked?” he says, letting the question out into the air.

Jinyoung picks up his head and looks at Jaebeom with wide eyes. “You’re serious?”

He nods. “I’m serious.”

Jinyoung seems to think about it for a few seconds. But he never looks conflicted, just thoughtful. A few moments pass before he confirms, “Yes. I’d love to.” He makes Jaebeom’s day once again. 

Hyunjin, of course, isn’t even upset. He’s excited in the days approaching Jinyoung’s move-in, even when he’s asked to clean up the apartment a little bit. “Do you think he will draw with me still?” Hyunjin asks Jaebeom as he passes by with a broom. “And read to me?”

“He’s still going to do all those things with you. You’ll just see him all the time now,” Jaebeom informs him. “I bet Jinyoung’s excited to see you more often, too.” He ruffles the hair on Hyunjin’s head with affection.

Jinyoung moves in on a Saturday. He doesn’t have that many additional belongings, mostly clothes. It’s completely painless for Jaebeom to help bring the bags into his bedroom (which is no longer just his now). 

He has a few cardboard boxes that are more fragile. “They’re my photo albums from when I was a kid,” he explains shyly. “I’ve got a lot of them because my mom took lots of pictures.”

And that’s how Jaebeom, Jinyoung, and Hyunjin spend the rest of the night on the living room floor looking at Jinyoung’s baby photos that span his entire childhood up to when he went to college.

Hyunjin looks at each photo with a lot of interest. He laughs at the funny ones and he’s always got something to say about the outfits that past-Jinyoung wears. As soon as they’re finished looking through the albums, Hyunjin runs off to the closet and pulls out his. “Daddy took a lot of pictures of me, too. He gave this to me when I turned five.” He sets the album on Jinyoung’s lap.

Jaebeom kind of feels like crying when Jinyoung opens the album and it’s the picture of Hyunjin when he was first born. All these pictures he’d taken on his own camera or with his own phone and he has such an important emotional connection to them. 

“Oh, Hyunjin, you were such a cute little baby,” Jinyoung says softly. “You still are.”

Hyunjin beams. “Daddy takes good pictures.”

“He does.” Jinyoung’s fingers gently brush across the plastic sleeves as he studies the pictures as Hyunjin grows older, slowly. There’s a picture Jaebeom had asked a stranger to take, when they’d went to the park together. Jaebeom was twenty three. 

“You look a lot like your dad, you know?” he remarks, and Hyunjin nods in vigorous agreement.

Jaebeom feels his chest tighten as he watches Jinyoung and Hyunjin looking through the photos together. He and Hyunjin had been the only members of this tiny family for six years, but perhaps that’s changing. 

The next day, they begin their new routine of Jinyoung taking Hyunjin to school every day, and he’ll take him back when class ends. Jaebeom says goodbye to each of them every morning, a kiss on the lips for Jinyoung and on the forehead for Hyunjin. Normally, he’d be sad about not taking him to school anymore, but he thinks he can get used to this.

In November, he meets up with Jackson on his next free day after his year anniversary with Mark. Jackson had been so excited preceding the anniversary that Jaebeom’s phone nearly broke from all the incoming messages, so he’s excited to actually receive an intelligible update from him.

They’re sitting in a little cafe with their coffee and Jackson is drinking it black (he never does) and Jaebeom gives him a few weird looks. “So, uh, how was the anniversary date? Did Mark give you anything?”

“Yes, he gave me very cute gifts. I’ll treasure them forever. But I think my gift to him was better,” he boasts, tracing his finger on the coffee mug with a dreamy look in his eyes.

“Of course you do. What was it?” Jaebeom asks curiously.

“I proposed to him.”

Jaebeom chokes on the coffee and starts coughing, earning himself a few dirty glares from fellow customers. “You _proposed?_ Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“I understand you are the other third of our group chat formerly named single dads, but listen. I wasn’t even planning on doing it that night specifically. I had the ring and everything, but I hadn’t thought of an anniversary proposal until Mark starts monologuing about how much he loves me and damn, I didn’t know the guy was so poetic. He melted my heart and I got overwhelmed with love so I proposed right there,” Jackson describes, smiling. “And he said yes, of course. He has yet to tell his parents about it because he has a family history of dating for literal years before proposing, even though a year is a fine amount of time for us.”

“Wow. So, you’re going to have three kids in the house soon then, huh?” Jaebeom jokes. 

Jackson nods optimistically. “Yup. I mean, I already had two so I doubt a third one is going to make it any more difficult. Besides, Mark and I are together so often that Jeongin’s basically already the twins’ brother.”

He laughs. “Let me know what they think of becoming siblings.”

“Will do.”

Jaebeom is glad that Jackson and Mark can have such a close relationship that they already know they want to get married after the first year of dating. It makes his heart warm as he thinks about how they’d first met that one night at the school, and that’s when he met Jinyoung too. It was a wonderful day for all of them, except maybe Hyunjin who had cried.

The next day after school, Hyunjin even announces the news to him. “Jeongin said that his dad and Jisung and Felix’s dad are getting married!” he exclaims. “He said he’s going to be moving into Jackson’s house!”

“They’re engaged?” Jinyoung repeats in disbelief from his spot on the couch grading homework.

Jaebeom, who is helping Hyunjin assemble his science project, nods, laughing. “Yeah, Jackson told me about it yesterday when I met up with him for coffee and I forgot to tell you. He seemed really happy. Apparently it was a spur of the moment thing, too.”

“Wow. Tell them congratulations for me, okay? Also that I’m partially responsible for their relationship since they met in my classroom.”

“I’m sure they’d thank you,” Jaebeom jokes, holding a foam ball steady so Hyunjin can glue it to a stick. 

One might think that Jinyoung living with Hyunjin might complicate his educational life, but it hasn’t really. He’s determined to do his homework himself, and if he needs help he’ll go to Jaebeom first. “Jinyoung can’t give me an A just because he’s dating you,” he informed Jaebeom, very seriously. 

That’s the other thing that makes Jaebeom happy nowadays. Jinyoung gave Hyunjin permission to just call him by his first name if they’re at home, so he no longer has to be called “Mr. Park” since he’s basically Hyunjin’s second caregiver. Hyunjin warmed up to this quickly, calling for Jinyoung when he needs help picking an outfit to wear or when the zipper on his coat gets stuck or if he can’t open a bottle of water. 

Jaebeom’s home has become such a happy place, and he’ll always be grateful for that.

Jaebeom enters the front office to be met with the image of Yugyeom sitting in the desk chair with Bambam on his lap, the both of them giggling with flushed faces. “Um,” Jaebeom says in an attempt to catch someone’s attention so the scene before him can end.

They glance over and Yugyeom shoves Bambam off within a second, his expression that of pure embarrassment, as Bambam falls over.

“Doesn’t Jinyoung have something for you to do?” Jaebeom asks pointedly. Jinyoung had taken on Yugyeom as a student teacher for the boy’s final year of college, despite his tendency to get distracted on the job.

“He’s in a meeting right now,” Yugyeom mumbles as he starts walking, swiftly, to the door. “I’ll go… I’ll go organize something.” In a flash, he’s gone.

Bambam seemed to have recovered quickly, as he’s already clicking away at the computer. “What are you here for this time? It’s been a hot minute, hasn’t it?”

“Hyunjin’s being accused of being an accessory to giving out quiz answers,” Jaebeom informs him with a sigh as he scrawls his name in Sharpie on a name tag. “Solely because Jinyoung’s my boyfriend and we all live together.”

“Ahh, I almost forgot you’re the boyfriend. Well, good luck with that,” Bambam says supportively. 

“Thanks,” he says dryly as he walks down the hall. He gets deja vu to the Gel Pen incident. Except this time, the principal will be in attendance (Jinyoung says it’s because it’s a student dishonesty case).

This time, he’s the first one in the classroom. Jinyoung must still be in his meeting. He gets his phone out to message him, but he pauses when he notices that Jinyoung had added a bunch of emoji hearts to his contact name in his phone. Jaebeom laughs softly- he’d never think he’d be in a mature relationship and still be able to be so cheesy and cliche with someone. 

Seconds later, Jackson and Mark walk in, hand in hand, and sit down beside him, all in sync. He notices how Jackson subtly touches Mark’s engagement ring with his thumb.

“Hey lovebirds,” Jaebeom teases. “This situation seems familiar, huh?”

“Oh god, don’t remind me,” Mark says with a groan. “Jeongin was so stressed with the gel pen thing.”

Jackson nudges him. “He’ll be fine this time. I’m sure he didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Yeah, but he doesn’t need to add to the stress of packing. We’re moving in in a week, you know.”

“How could I forget?” Jackson says gleefully, and Jaebeom pretends to gag. He’s affectionate with Jinyoung, yes, just not so blatantly in public like Jackson and Mark or Bambam and Yugyeom. 

“Sorry I’m late!” Jinyoung says breathlessly as he enters the room, the collar of his shirt slanted and his hair frizzy. He sits down and takes a stack of papers out of his desk. “The meeting went a little longer than expected. The principal should be here momentarily, as well.” He picks up the phone. “Yugyeom, can you bring down Hyunjin, Jisung, Felix, Jeongin, and Seungmin, please?” He pauses, voice growing thin. “What do you mean you don’t have them? … Yugyeom, you can’t just leave the kids with Youngjae. He has work to do, too. I don’t care if Felix wanted to try playing the piano; they’re your responsibility. Go get them please.” He hangs up with a sigh. 

“Yugyeom giving you a hard time?” Jaebeom asks sympathetically.

“As always. It’s okay though, he’s learning.”

The meeting goes relatively to plan. Jaebeom discovers that the principal also shares Jinyoung’s name, which he finds absolutely bizarre despite the fact that Jinyoung’s name is fairly common. Jinyoung doesn’t like him at all, which adds to the irony.

The principal discusses how the boys had been framed for having 100% test scores and that since Jinyoung and Hyunjin live together, there has to be some connection. That is, until Jackson points out that the kids are just intelligent and that Jinyoung is a reliable teacher that would never let his students cheat like that. _Thank god for Jackson who can tell anyone off, even his sons’ principal_ , Jaebeom thinks.

At least Hyunjin hadn’t been that bothered through the entire meeting, since he was content to play Tetris on Jaebeom’s phone the entire time. It’s a big improvement since the gel pen incident, and Jaebeom cringes as he remembers how upset his son had been then. 

It all feels very nostalgic, the group of them together, even though his son is getting accused of academic dishonesty and that pisses him off. Jaebeom learns to appreciate the little things in life, though. 

By the end of the meeting, Hyunjin and the other kids are cleared and the principal is walking out of the classroom in irritation after one of Jinyoung’s snarky but professional remarks (his ability to do this is one of the reasons why Jaebeom loves him).

As they start packing up, Jaebeom pulls Jinyoung aside and gives him a soft kiss on the cheek. “You did so well. That must’ve been stressful.”

Jinyoung laughs quietly. “Yeah, it was. My boss is an asshole.”

“You should get him fired,” Jaebeom encourages. “Take his spot like Jackson keeps telling you to.”

“Then I wouldn’t be able to teach. That’s what I want to do the most. Being a principal would be fun but I prefer being a teacher,” Jinyoung answers honestly, with a little smile.

His career confidence is very admirable. He’s glad Jinyoung knows what he wants in life.

The months pass by. Jinyoung and Jaebeom have their anniversary celebration by going to Jeju for a night while Hyunjin stays with Jinyoung’s parents. Jaebeom would count that day as one of the more memorable days in his life. He hadn’t been able to keep his hands off Jinyoung, couldn’t stop looking at him and professing how handsome he was. The romance of the anniversary was definitely upon them, especially when Jinyoung decided to kiss him in the rain in the middle of the street and Jaebeom felt like he was living in a drama. 

Except the drama is at the happy part where there’s no conflict, just the sweet, cliched romance.

Nowadays, he feels like he’s known Jinyoung forever, at the same time, he feels like they’ve just met and Jaebeom’s still adjusting to the passion of his feelings for him. It’s a nice feeling.

During the spring, Jinyoung also finds out that he’s staying at the second grade level, so Hyunjin will move on to third grade without him as his teacher. Jaebeom notices the disappointment in his tone when he announces this, and assures him that Hyunjin will still be here, in their apartment.

And then in early summer is the very anticipated event that is Jackson and Mark’s wedding. 

He arrives at the venue with Jinyoung and Hyunjin- it’s an outdoor wedding and there’s plenty of gorgeous flowers everywhere. Hyunjin feels compelled to sniff every one they walk by, and Jaebeom is thankful he doesn’t have allergies.

Dressing up Hyunjin for the wedding had been an emotional experience. He’d never taken him to a formal event before so this was the first time he’s wearing his little purple button-up shirt. Jaebeom was overwhelmed by how _adorable_ his son is and he was also left thinking about how this might be how Hyunjin looks if Jaebeom ever gets married.

He decided not to get too ahead of himself.

Especially after seeing Jinyoung stepping out of his bedroom wearing his suit with his hair done and his eyes sparkling because he’s hot and _he knows it_. Jaebeom nearly faints, and he is not even being dramatic. 

“You look amazing,” he says softly as he approaches him. “You might outdo the grooms.”

Jinyoung smirks. “I’m telling them you said that.”

“For my safety, please don’t,” Jaebeom jokes, unable to take his eyes off the man in front of him.

But Jinyoung reaches forward and straightens Jaebeom’s collar, a look of admiration in his expression. “You look pretty attractive in a suit, you know. Maybe we should get invited to more weddings.”

“Hey, maybe your student teacher and the secretary will have an impulse wedding or something. They’re in college so you never know,” he teases. 

Jinyoung considers this. “Mm, doubt it. I feel like the next time I’ll see you in a suit will be our own wedding.”

Hearing “our own wedding” out of Jinyoung’s mouth sends Jaebeom into cardiac arrest. It might just be something playful Jinyoung said, but this may also be him sending hints. He just might faint again.

Luckily, he manages to get himself together enough for the drive to the wedding.

Watching Jackson and Mark recite their vows and kiss for the first time as husbands is really heartwarming. Jaebeom doesn’t cry, but he almost does when he sees both Jackson’s and Mark’s parents crying, too (he’s an emotional sponge sometimes).

At some point during the reception, Jackson offers Jaebeom a glass of champagne and pulls him aside, over near the currently vacant table of refreshments. “I’ve noticed how you’ve been looking at Jinyoung all day,” he says teasingly as he nudges him with his elbow. 

Jaebeom sulkily sips the champagne. “And?”

“Do you think you’ll ever marry him?” Jackson asks, curious, and Jaebeom nearly chokes. “One day?”

After a moment, he confirms, “Yeah. I can see myself marrying him.”

Jackson smiles brightly. “He’s literally so in love with you so whenever you want to ask, I don’t think you have much to be worried about. I can also give you proposal tips, if you want.”

He’s blushing at all this marriage talk. He swallows another sip of his drink. “We’ll see.”

After his conversation with Jackson, he can’t help but think about it every time he looks at Jinyoung. 

He goes on a mini road trip to the beach one day with Jinyoung. It’s the summertime so Jinyoung doesn’t have to work and Hyunjin is having a sleepover with the other boys. In short, Jaebeom’s at peace.

Or at least, he should be. The box in his pocket is making him very, very nervous.

He makes sure this is an enjoyable trip for Jinyoung by doting on him whenever possible: buying him ice cream, carrying his bags, opening doors for him. Some might be annoyed but Jinyoung really enjoys it and Jaebeom can tell by how affectionate he gets. 

After a long walk on the beach as the sunset turns to night, they’re sitting on a beach towel together, Jinyoung’s head nestled in the crook of Jaebeom’s neck.

“Thank you for taking me out today,” Jinyoung says softly. “You’ve been really sweet to me. I think I needed this to relax.”

“Of course. I’m here to make your life a little easier wherever I can.”

Jinyoung takes his hand in his, squeezing it. “You’ve just been the perfect boyfriend lately. I can’t thank you enough. I had been stressed as the school year ended but you melted it all away, somehow.”

Jaebeom smiles warmly. “You deserve it.”

“I hate you,” Jinyoung jokes, with no hostility carried in his words. “You do nothing but make me love you more every day.” A few moments later, he starts shivering. “I’m getting cold. We should probably go back to the hotel now.” He pulls Jaebeom to his feet. Then, he turns and picks up the towel and is about to walk away, but Jaebeom stops him by lightly taking his wrist.

“Jinyoung, wait.”

He turns around, curiously, the towel draped over his arms. “Hm?”

Jaebeom’s heart is pounding, but he knows he wants to do this now. The adrenaline helps him finalize his decision as he drops to one knee in the sand. He takes the box out of his pocket as Jinyoung audibly gasps.

He looks up at the stunned, wide-eyed Jinyoung who has his hands covering his gaping mouth, and opens the box, revealing the ring inside.

“I want to be able to make you as happy as you are today, for every day of your life, if you’d let me, Jinyoung. Because you’ve made me so incredibly happy by being my boyfriend and being there for my son… you’re so special to me and I want to keep you around for the rest of my life.” He takes a deep, steadying breath, hardly noticing the tears that have formed in Jinyoung’s eyes. “Will you marry me?”

Not even a second passes before Jinyoung is nodding his head, overwhelmed by his emotions as a tear falls down his cheek. “Yes, yes, Jaebeom, I’ll marry you.”

He smiles widely, relief running through his body as he stands, taking Jinyoung’s hand and sliding the ring onto his finger. “I love you.”

Jinyoung looks from the ring to him, with glossy eyes. “I’ll make you happy forever. I promise.”

Jaebeom leans down and kisses him. The only thing he can do is just kiss Jinyoung on that beach, nothing but the sound of the water and Jinyoung. “Thank you for coming into my family,” he whispers in Jinyoung’s ear.

“Don’t make me cry more,” Jinyoung whines, hugging Jaebeom tightly. “I love you and I love Hyunjin and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Jaebeom’s heart feels like it’s on fire, in the best way possible, and it carries through as he and Jinyoung enter their hotel room.

The next day, they drive back home, picking up Hyunjin on the way. Jackson’s the one to answer the door to the house, grinning. “Hey guys. Hyunjin is safe and healthy, have no worry.” He lets them inside as Hyunjin walks over happily eating a poptart. 

“Did you have fun?” Jaebeom asks, kneeling down to give him a smile.

“Yep,” Hyunjin responds, humming. “Mark took us to Target and lost us so we had to get our names called over the speaker and it was fun.”

Jinyoung gives Mark, who had been standing nearby, a death glare. “You what?”

“They ran off,” Mark says defensively. “It wasn’t _my_ fault.”

“Jackson also let us go outside in the backyard and we all got to climb in the tree! Felix said he’s done it before but he fell out of it and got a bruise,” Hyunjin rambles.

Jinyoung frowns, holding up Hyunjin’s arms and checking for bruises. “Did you fall out of the tree? I don’t see any-”

“Jinyoung, what is that?” Jackson interrupts. “On your finger?”

He glances down at his hand, and then looks at Jackson with a grin. “A ring.”

Mark’s in the room now, grabbing Jinyoung’s hand to look at said ring with great enthusiasm. “Oh my god, Jaebeom proposed?”

“You proposed?!” Jackson echoes, his question directed at Jaebeom now. 

“Yup,” Jaebeom says smugly. Jackson neglected to tell him immediately about _his_ proposal so the look of surprise on his face is gratifying.

Hyunjin looks up at Jaebeom. “What does propose mean?”

“I’ll explain it when we get home,” Jaebeom says quickly. “Let’s get your stuff in the car.”

Mark and Jackson pester Jinyoung for the details while Jaebeom finishes checking to make sure Hyunjin didn’t forget anything. They then make the short car ride home, where Hyunjin brings up the question again. Jinyoung’s in the other room, unpacking his own bag, so that leaves Jaebeom to tell him.

He kneels down again, to Hyunjin’s height. “It means that Jinyoung and I are going to get married. You know what it means when people get married, right?”

Hyunjin’s excitement channels itself through jumping in place. “Yes! There’s going to be a wedding and it means you love each other.”

Jaebeom nods, smiling. “Yes, and it also means Jinyoung will be here with us permanently. He won’t leave.”

“Not like my mom?” 

“Nope. He’ll stay,” Jaebeom promises, and he knows his words give Hyunjin incredible comfort. “Are you happy?”

“Yes, I’m happy! I always wanted you to marry him,” Hyunjin reminds him. He gives his father a hug, then, and Jaebeom makes sure to hold him tightly.

He can hardly comprehend how glad he is that Jinyoung makes Hyunjin happy.

The wedding happens very quickly after the proposal. All parties involved wanted to be married as soon as possible, and Jinyoung’s parents were very, very happy to have a wedding right away (they called Jaebeom to tell him extensively about how much they were looking forward to their son getting married and that they were glad it was him Jinyoung was marrying). 

It’s a little emptying for Jaebeom when he realizes he’ll have no family at the wedding besides Hyunjin, but he supposes that is how his life has been for the past seven years.

It makes his heart happy though, to see the way Jinyoung’s mom hugs Hyunjin in greeting and how Jinyoung’s father greets him so warmly. 

“You’re going to be my son-in-law, soon, huh?” he reflects. “You know you’re very welcome in our family, Jaebeom. You may not be close with your own but now that you’re going to be Jinyoung’s husband, you are part of our family now.”

Jaebeom won’t lie, he gets a little emotional at that. “Thank you, I’m very grateful,” he says honestly. 

When he sees Jackson and Mark, they announce that they are disbanding the “single dads” name for their friend group, which will now be “married dads.” Jaebeom rolls his eyes at that.

At the ceremony, Jaebeom comes to realize how in love with Jinyoung he truly is. From the way his heart pounds when he sees Jinyoung all dressed up, to the way it skips when he smiles at him. His heart melts when he hears his voice as they recite their vows. It’s the only thing he can hear.

The kiss they share afterwards is sweet and numbing in such a good way. Jaebeom feels like his entire life has led up to this and it’s the most blissful relief, knowing that he isn’t alone any longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think!! I'll try to post the last chapter of the epilogue soon. :)


	9. final epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaebeom and Jinyoung's post-wedding life.

It’s a few days after the wedding. Jinyoung is sorting through some new plates they had received as gifts at the kitchen counter, while Jaebeom finishes some work at his laptop in the living room and Hyunjin sits at the table coloring with his new colored pencils. It’s your typical day for the Im family.

Until Hyunjin calls out, “Dad!”

Jaebeom looks up, but much to his surprise, Hyunjin isn’t even looking back at him. He’s looking over his shoulder at Jinyoung. 

When he doesn’t get a response, Hyunjin climbs out of his chair and walks over to Jinyoung, tugging his sleeve. “Dad, one of the colored pencils broke. Do you know where the pencil sharpener is?”

Jinyoung nearly drops the plate he was holding. His hand goes slowly to his mouth and he starts tearing up. He nods through his tears as he walks over to his work bag to take out a pencil sharpener and hand it to Hyunjin, who takes it gratefully. “Thank you! I’m going to sharpen a couple I have in my room too!” 

As soon as he’s out of hearing range, Jinyoung starts sobbing. He walks over to Jaebeom, collapsing on the couch beside him. Jaebeom, stunned by the events that unfolded before his eyes, welcomes Jinyoung into a hug. 

“He called me dad,” Jinyoung mumbles, his voice wavering through his sobs. “I’m… I’m so fucking happy…”

Jaebeom rubs his back soothingly. _Hyunjin called Jinyoung his father_. He might be just as happy as Jinyoung to hear those words from Hyunjin’s mouth. He really got the second father he wanted. Sure, Jinyoung is technically just his stepfather, but it still counts.

“I was surprised when he said ‘dad’ because he usually uses ‘daddy’ to refer to me. I guess I’m Daddy and you’re Dad now, huh?” Jaebeom says.

Jinyoung cries even harder, clutching at Jaebeom’s shirt. “Jaebeom… I know we’ve been married for five days but… I want to adopt Hyunjin. I know it’s just a legal thing, but still, I-”

“Of course you can,” Jaebeom interrupts, moved by Jinyoung’s wish. “If Hyunjin agrees, you can.”

So ten minutes later, when Hyunjin comes back in the room, Jaebeom beckons him over. “Hyunjin, since Jinyoung and I are married, that means Jinyoung is your stepfather. Do you know what a stepfather is?”

He nods his head. “Like how Jackson is to Jeongin.”

“Right. But if Jinyoung adopted you, then legally, he’d be your full parent. If anything were to happen to me, you’d still be in Jinyoung’s care.” He stops himself there, not wanting to scare him with any of that. “But Jinyoung and I would have equal responsibility of you. We’d equally be your father. Would you want Jinyoung to adopt you?”

Hyunjin’s eyes are wide as he nods, with the biggest smile. He looks elated and Jaebeom feels his heart melting.

Jinyoung reaches forward and pulls Hyunjin into a hug, still crying. “I’ll adopt you, then, Hyunjin. I love you.”

“I love you too, Dad,” he says, as easily as he says “I love you” to Jaebeom. Jinyoung holds him even tighter as he starts crying even harder.

_Jinyoung makes both me and Hyunjin happy,_ Jaebeom reflects lovingly as he watches the two with affection in his gaze. There’s nothing like this moment, Jinyoung willingly wanting to become Hyunjin’s father and Hyunjin eagerly accepting. 

On Hyunjin’s first day of third grade, Jaebeom accompanies him to his class, giving him an encouraging hug before stopping by his husband’s classroom. He steps inside, observing as Jinyoung hangs up a few stray posters on the wall. Unfortunately, Yugyeom graduated so he is no longer a student teacher, but Mark informed him that Yugyeom got a job as one of the preschool teachers and they’re now coworkers.

A child calling out, “Mr. Im” thoroughly startles and confuses Jaebeom. He thinks maybe he somehow forgot he had a teaching career for five seconds, until he sees Jinyoung turning around in response. 

He managed to forget that Jinyoung had taken his last name and now goes by Im Jinyoung. He remembers, amused, their discussion about what to do about their surname. Whether to take Park, or take Im, or not change their names at all. Jinyoung had very much wanted them all to have the Im surname, his primary reason being that Hyunjin and Jaebeom wouldn’t have to switch, and also he finally wouldn’t have the same name as his boss anymore. Jaebeom remembers laughing his ass off and then ultimately agreeing to Im Jinyoung.

After Jinyoung’s done assisting the student, he glances up at Jaebeom, blushes a little and then quickly jogs over to him. “Hurry to work before you're late, Jaebeom. I know you want to say goodbye to me but you have places to be.”

“I’ve got plenty of time.” He kisses Jinyoung gently on the cheek. “But I’ll go if you insist. Have a good day, Jinyoung.”

“You too. I love you,” Jinyoung says softly, watching as Jaebeom leaves the classroom.

On his way out, he stops by the office just to say hi. Predictably, Bambam is there, furiously typing at the computer. He glances up. “Look who it is. Totally haven’t seen you before,” he says before returning his gaze to the screen.

“Are things busy?” Jaebeom asks, leaning on the desk.

“Yeah, your fucking husband got married and changed his name so now I have to deal with changing it in the system,” Bambam mutters. “Plus I have to add him to Hyunjin’s emergency contact information now, at his request.”

Jaebeom laughs. “Is this your first day without Yugyeom, too?”

“Yes, but I _do_ have his number. Might ask him on a date later this week since we’re not coworkers anymore.”

“Good luck.” At that moment, a parent walks in, so Jaebeom says goodbye and he’s off to work, for his normal day.

It’s April when Hyunjin’s adoption goes through and they get to go to the courtroom and have it all finalized. It ends with Jaebeom, Jinyoung, and Hyunjin all crying- Hyunjin’s gotten his second father, Jaebeom’s gotten his husband and Jinyoung’s gotten the child he’s always wanted. It’s perfect.

They celebrate the day by visiting Jinyoung’s parents.

His mother-in-law greets Jaebeom with a giant hug. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, huh?”

“It’s been two weeks,” Jinyoung corrects, amused.

“Feels like forever,” she says cheerfully as she pinches Jaebeom’s cheek. “I think you’re my favorite son-in-law.” Jaebeom can hear Jinyoung laughing from the kitchen. 

“I’ll tell my sisters you said that!” he calls out.

Jaebeom had met Jinyoung’s sisters a few months after they started dating, as well as all of their children. They live on the other side of the country but they dropped by for their wedding, too. They’re lovely girls and they instantly welcomed him as their brother-in-law.

She gives Hyunjin a hug, too. “Was today exciting?”

“Yup!” he answers instantly. You can see it in his eyes. 

“I’m very glad,” his mother says warmly, patting Hyunjin’s shoulder. 

The day is a relaxed one. They spend it outside, watching Hyunjin play in the yard as they chat.

“I’ve said it once, but I’m very glad you married him, Jinyoung,” she says to him, as if Jaebeom can’t hear. “He’s a wonderful man.”

Jinyoung rolls his eyes. “I’m aware. He’s my husband after all.”

“ _And_ he brought me a grandchild!” she gushes.

Jaebeom leans over, past Jinyoung’s mom, grinning. “When we were dating and I met them for the first time, your mother had taken me aside and told me that she hopes I can make Hyunjin her grandson one day.”

Scandalized, Jinyoung’s eyes widen. “Mom, _what?”_

She throws her hands in the air. “Hey, you _did_ get married, so…”

“You could’ve scared him away,” Jinyoung whines. “We had been dating for _two_ months!”

They’re interrupted by Hyunjin calling, “Grandma, come look!” as he holds something in his hands.

She puts her hand over her heart, cooing. “One second, sweetie!” she calls back as she stands up to walk over to him.

Jaebeom just smiles and watches as he shows his grandmother the butterfly that landed in his palm.

Their wedding anniversary is like any of their other dates- romantic and sweet but also laidback. He and Jinyoung had never been fond of dramatics, opting for the simple dates.

But Jinyoung’s especially fond and smiley tonight. Jaebeom can tell the guy has something he wants to say but isn’t saying it (he’s learned a lot about Jinyoung through the course of his relationship). 

He finds out what exactly this secret is when Jinyoung gives him his anniversary gift. It’s a little envelope. Confused as to what the hell could be inside, he opens it. So far, it is a sheet of paper.

Jaebeom flips it onto the other side. It is a printed image of a web page: the animal adoption center’s profile for the white cat Jaebeom had been obsessively looking at. Blankly, Jaebeom says, “It’s a print screen image.”

Jinyoung rolls his eyes. “Yeah. What’s on the paper, you dumbass?”

“A cat.”

He stares at him. “Yes. A cat.”

Jaebeom stares back, still blank.

“Jaebeom, I got you the cat,” Jinyoung says bluntly.

Instantly understanding, Jaebeom perks up. “Oh my fucking god Jinyoung, you didn’t.”

“We’ll be able to pick her up tomorrow. It’s all sorted out,” he confirms with a smile. “I know you always complain about how Nora probably gets lonely and how much you want another cat. Thought I’d solve the problem. Plus I don’t think Hyunjin will complain.”

He imagines Hyunjin’s face lighting up when they bring a new cat home and Jaebeom agrees. He smiles like an idiot at Jinyoung, who always seems to know what he wants. 

“I really love you,” Jaebeom murmurs, dazed. He doesn’t think about how the new cat will need a name, and a food bowl, and a litter box, but instead he thinks about Jinyoung holding said cat. Who needs responsibilities when you can lovingly gaze at your husband?

Picking up the cat the next day is quite possibly one of the best moments of Jaebeom’s life, aside from his wedding and Hyunjin’s birth. He watches as Hyunjin pokes the cat’s nose through the bars of the carrier. “Nora’s going to be so happy!” he exclaims cheerfully. 

Jaebeom is the one to take the cat carrier into the house, very carefully looking around for where Nora might be. Jinyoung seeks her out and brings her, secured in his arms, to the living room where they’ve all decided the first meeting will be. Hyunjin watches in anticipation as Jinyoung lowers Nora to the carrier’s height so the cats can see each other, and Jaebeom braces himself to hear hissing and growling.

But, surprisingly, Nora doesn’t hiss or growl. She becomes a little tense, her claws digging into Jinyoung’s jacket as she watches the other cat try to sniff her curiously. Jinyoung and Jaebeom exchange pleasantly surprised glances. _Maybe they picked out the perfect cat_ , Jaebeom thinks as he opens the carrier and lets the two interact without the bars in the way.

“This is adorable,” he says as he watches the cats circle around each other and sniff each other. “They’ll be best friends in no time… I would’ve gotten another cat much earlier if I knew Nora would be this friendly.”

“Can I pick her name?” Hyunjin asks, tugging on Jaebeom’s sleeve eagerly.

He smiles. “Yeah, sure. Do you have a name in mind?”

“Mochi!” he sings out. “She’s a white cat so it fits.”

Jaebeom doesn’t question his son’s taste in cat names. So Mochi it is. 

That night, both Mochi and Nora sleep in his bed with him, and Jaebeom is the happiest man ever. _Thank god for Jinyoung._

It’s the weekend- a Saturday night, after they had gotten back from a visit at the Wang-Tuan household. Jinyoung helps get Hyunjin ready for bed while Jaebeom sits down on the couch beside Nora, who had been sleeping soundly.

He’s had a lot on his mind recently. Most of it concerns the reason _why_ he arranged to go to Mark and Jackson’s house in the first place. 

Because Jaebeom has baby fever and he figured that being around _their_ three kids would be enough to satiate him. But as much as he played and interacted with the twins and Jeongin, the nagging feeling just increased.

He hasn’t had baby fever _ever_ so this is a new experience for him. Maybe it was because actually raising baby Hyunjin had kind of been hell since he was twenty, single, and had little to no idea how children worked.

But now, seeing Jackson and Mark with their kids, and seeing the parents at the elementary school with their kids, and seeing commercials for baby clothes… Jaebeom really can’t escape it. 

Jinyoung walks back inside the room, now dressed in his pajamas. “I put Hyunjin to sleep,” he announces as he sits down beside Jaebeom, scooping Nora into his lap. He pets her head and Jaebeom watches fondly.

He figures he may as well say something to his husband about his feelings. 

“I’ve had one kid and one cat my entire adult life and now I have one kid and two cats. I think it should be more balanced out,” Jaebeom says to him, trying to be subtle but he’s really not subtle at all.

Jinyoung pauses his petting and looks at Jaebeom confusedly. “What do you mean?”

At this point, he may as well be blunt. 

“Do you want to have a baby with me?”

His eyes fly open. “Jaebeom-”

“I’ve been missing raising a baby now that Hyunjin’s older, and being around Jackson and Mark’s kids makes it worse, so I thought I’d ask-”

Jinyoung interrupts his rambling, grinning. “ _Of course_ I want a baby with you! I’ve been trying to figure out how to ask _you_ for the past few weeks!” His enthusiasm scares Nora away and Jinyoung scoots closer on the couch to hug Jaebeom. “I love kids, Jaebeom, in case you forgot. I’d love to adopt.”

Jaebeom feels himself getting a little emotional. Hyunjin’s been his only kid for like eight years, and now he’s discussing bringing another into the family… he never thought it’d be possible. He remembers saying that as a single dad he should just focus on Hyunjin because he wouldn’t have the energy or resources to support both another kid _and_ Hyunjin, but now, everything is changed, and Jaebeom’s heart feels so light.

He discusses this with Jackson over coffee (they’ve had a lot of heart-to-hearts over coffee at this point). 

“Have you and Mark considered having another kid?” Jaebeom asks, out of the blue.

He tilts his head. “We’ve talked about adoption, but we’ve never really seriously considered it. We’ve got three kids and we agree it’s a decent number. Why?”

“Because Jinyoung and I started talking about adopting a baby,” he confesses. “I’ve really wanted one lately, especially after being around your kids, and Hyunjin’s older now so it wouldn’t be too difficult, and there’s two of us, so…”

Jackson raises his eyebrows. “Oh my god, if you two adopt I want to be the godfather.”

“Oh, shut up.”

“Jaebeomie, I really find it so cute how you used to just be pining after this guy and now you’ve married him and you might be having a baby together,” Jackson says. “You’re a really lucky guy.”

_I am, aren’t I?_ Jaebeom thinks happily.

He and Jinyoung don’t commit to anything, though, until one day, when they’re at Jackson and Mark’s house babysitting. Hyunjin’s sitting in Jinyoung’s lap, reading a book, while the other three kids are chasing each other around the house.

Hyunjin watches them play, and Jaebeom is about to ask him what he’s thinking about when Hyunjin himself speaks up, glancing at Jaebeom.

“If two boys are married, they adopt a baby, right?” he asks.

“Yes, that’s generally what happens,” Jaebeom confirms. “Why?”

Hyunjin’s silent for a few seconds as he thinks. “Because I… I want a brother or sister like Jeongin and Jisung and Felix… you said I couldn’t have one when I was younger because it was just you but I still want one.”

Jaebeom and Jinyoung look at each other, smiles coming to their faces. There seems to be a silent agreement between the two that yes, they should adopt.

“I think we could make that happen,” Jaebeom says to Hyunjin, whose face lights up immediately. Hyunjin’s enthusiasm is just another reason to have a baby, so may as well, right?

Holding his own infant in his arms is an experience Jaebeom hadn’t known if he’d ever have again. His heart swells as her tiny fingers wrap around his, making quiet baby noises. 

Jaebeom hadn’t gotten a ton of sleep lately, but he’s taking time off from his job to look after the new baby, so he isn’t really bothered. Jinyoung absolutely hates going to work and leaving him alone, but when he comes home he helps take the weight off Jaebeom’s shoulders a bit.

Nora especially adores their new baby daughter, whom they named Yeji. She sniffed her a lot when they first brought her home, settling down beside her, and Jaebeom nearly died at how cute it was and took a million pictures (he figures he should make a photo album for Yeji just as he did with Hyunjin).

He and Jinyoung had gotten to adopt Yeji as soon as she was born. The first day with her had been ethereal and Jinyoung cried a couple times and even had to call his parents at one point just to cry. Hyunjin had been so smiley, especially when Jaebeom let him hold her and Hyunjin looked at her in awe.

Even Jaebeom had cried that night when Yeji fell asleep in his arms and he had just been so grateful.

They visit Jackson and Mark a couple weeks later. As soon as Jinyoung steps inside with Yeji, both Jackson and Mark are cooing. “She’s so cute, oh my god,” Jackson gushes, shaking Mark’s shoulder. “I want a daughter.”

Mark gives him a look that Jaebeom feels Jackson has seen many times before. “We have _three_ kids, Jackson. That’s plenty.”

“Four wouldn’t be too bad,” he whines. Jeongin, Jisung, and Felix, who had just entered the room, start cheering for another sibling, causing Mark to groan.

“We’ll see,” Mark says to satiate his husband and children, before turning to Jinyoung so he can hold Yeji.

The adults sit down in the living room and pass her around to be held as the older kids play a couple feet away.

“She’s a pretty quiet baby,” Jaebeom says affectionately when it’s his turn to hold her again. “Hyunjin had been that way, too.” He remembers the first time Yeji cried in the middle of the night and he, out of instinct, had sat up in bed but Jinyoung had stopped him and got up instead. It was then that he truly realized that parenting would be an effort for the both of them, and the pressure wasn’t just on him this time.

“I didn’t get to raise Jisung and Felix when they were newborns,” Jackson says, quiet, but his expression is soft. “But I had visited them a lot, and they were as energetic as they are now.”

They all start sharing their stories of parenthood, with the exception of Jinyoung, who is content with listening. 

At one point, they’re interrupted by a voice calling out, “Dad!” and all four of them react and respond, looking toward Jisung who is startled to have all the adults looking at him. Then, they just burst out laughing. 

Jaebeom feels like he is at a moment of peace in his life. Sitting on the sofa in Mark and Jackson’s house, watching Hyunjin play with the other kids. Taking Yeji while Jinyoung goes to get Hyunjin his hoodie from his bag. Listening to Jackson sharing his stories of parenthood and realizing that he wouldn’t have his own life any other way. 

It all truly sets in when he’s in the gymnasium of the elementary school, in the audience of Hyunjin’s mini fifth grade graduation ceremony. It’s a moment he’d been thinking about ever since Hyunjin entered preschool. 

Who would’ve guessed he’d be attending the ceremony with a husband and a year old daughter?

Seeing Hyunjin’s bright, toothy smile on the stage puts Jaebeom at ease. Everything is okay now and Jaebeom doesn’t need to worry. Hyunjin’s happy, and he’s happy, and that’s all that really matters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has read this far! It's probably a longer fic than it needs to be but I hope you enjoyed the main story as well as the epilogue. I'd also like to thank everyone for the support of this fic and all the lovely comments. It means a lot to see that you've enjoyed reading this. <3


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